It Takes a Bond
by Megatron's Blackfire
Summary: The Sun has collapsed into a Blackhole and now they have to go look for the Cyber Planet Keys but something is wrong with Megatron. Powers will be mastered and sparks will be put to their limit. The final arc in the It Takes a Girl Trilogy. On Hiatus
1. To Earth

Chapter 1 To Earth

It had been ten years since Galvatron sacrificed himself to give Cybertron back a sun. Oriona Pax could reflect on that knowledge and still feel the stinging pain of losing her mate to a destiny that should not have been his. As much as she hated to admit it, she needed his assistance in running Cybertron. For some strange reason, the entire population of Autobots refused to follow her orders anymore. It was as if someone had convinced them that a femme could not lead them on her own and that she needed a mech beside her at all times to hold her hand and guide her.

Which brought up another problem; suitors. Mechs from all over Cybertron were turning up and attempting to win her hand. She did not know where they were all coming from, only that they were grinding on her nerves worse than anything ever had. They all thought that since Megatron was gone that she was fair game and could be courted so long as they tried to do it discreetly.

Of all of them, Jetfire had to be the worst. He would hound her every day and make her fall behind on her paperwork while constantly trying to remind her of all the good times they had shared. She was growing more and more tempted to just ram his head into something very sharp and ship him off to an infirmary for the rest of his life.

Cybertron was not recovering from the war at the same speed it had been before Unicron's shocking reappearance. Nothing was being built up again and things were falling into disrepair. She could not get the building companies to start up again because they refused to listen to her. She was getting frustrated quickly and she felt horrible for everyone that could not afford to stay in the houses that had been remodelled in Iacon.

At the moment, she was sitting in the crystal gardens outside the Prime Mansion hidden from view. She really just wanted a moment of peace to remember why she was still fighting onwards with her mission when so many obstacles cropped up to knock her on her aft. She pressed her palms to her face and let out a lengthy sigh of disappointment and sorrow. The only comfort she had at the moment was the continual warmth offered from the Sun and the knowledge that Galvatron was slowly growing stronger within.

Wingsabre was long gone, having gotten an upgrade from Primus that allowed her to fly freely through space without the need to refuel every few hours. She took off shortly after, saying that she had places to go and places to see. Oriona knew that it was to escape the lonesome feeling of having their mate so close but lacking the ability to hold them. It was spark-wrenching and annoying all at the same time and Oriona was surprised she had not gone insane yet. She just wished her friend was there to help keep her company when she needed to hide from the suitors.

She onlined an optic as her com link went off and she answered it with a sad sigh. "Yes?"

"Oriona," Red Alert's voice brought her a little closer to coherency. "You need to see this."

She was worried about the tone of voice the medic was using and informed him that she would be there soon. She stood up and headed out of the garden, pausing long enough to press her palm against the trunk of one of the fragile trees. She headed towards the command center, slipping past a few suitors as they tried to greet her with false smiles and sweet words. She entered the command center just as Hot Shot came sliding in, his arms pin-wheeling to keep himself upright. He was still trying to get use to his new body after the upgrade Primus had given him.

"What's the problem?" she asked as she helped her son stay upright.

"Look at the screen," Red Alert replied as he pointed at the screen just above his head as he started typing away. "Scattershot spotted it first."

She looked up and blinked at the image of their sun hovering in the center of the screen. It looked a little odd to her, like it was getting squished around its equator and poles. She stared at it before she realized that it was starting to be sucked inwards by forces beyond her sight. She looked at Scattershot for an explanation and saw that he was typing away like mad while biting his fingers in panic. She was scared instantly when she saw how he was reacting and looked back at the sun in worry; Galvatron and Starscream were still in there.

She gasped as she watched the sun's light suddenly beginning to fade. Scattershot shouted that something bad was happening and that they were all going to die. Side Swipe sat up from where he was working in front of the monitor and started shouting for the sun to start reacting again. Oriona watched as the sun suddenly turned black and started to collapse in on itself. In that instant she knew what was happening; the sun was forming a black hole!

"No!" she screamed. "This can't happen!"

She watched as the last of the sun's light faded away and instead became a pinprick in the center of the screen that split open. She watched as bits of debris lying around the edges of the newly formed black hole were sucked in. She felt tears spilling down her face and she shook her head in an attempt to get rid of them. She let out a weak so at the same time Side Swipe and Hot Shot let out wails of despair. Ironhide, who was in Kaon trying to get a new housing development underway, sent a wave of panic and confusion down the bond.

She felt her legs give out beneath her and she hit the ground with a very audible thud. She hid her face in her hands as she let out a spark-wrenching sob and shook her head again. Ironhide understood immediately and his wail of anguish destroyed what was left of her resolve and she collapsed into tears without even bothering to look strong in front of her soldiers. She could hear someone else crying not far from her and she wondered for a moment who it was. She then forgot about it as a set of arms wrapped around her and tried to lift her up.

She flailed her arms around and shoved at whoever was trying to touch her, snarling at them to leave her alone. She heard Jetfire's voice telling her that everything was going to be alright and she felt herself snap. She shoved against his chest hard and sent him stumbling backwards.

"How can everything be fine, Jetfire?" she screeched. "Maybe you didn't notice, but the thing we fought for at the end of the war ten years ago just collapsed on itself and is sucking everything in!"

"Everything will right itself," Jetfire cooed. "We'll figure something out."

"WE LOST TWO SOLDIERS IN THAT BLACK HOLE!" she screeched. "Or did you forget about them too? You seem to be getting pretty good at that, aren't you, Jetfire?"

"Oriona, I," he started to whisper before she shoved him backwards against the wall.

"Drop it already, Jetfire!" she screamed. "Everything we've fought for is gone...and we aren't so far behind it now either."

She turned and stormed out of the command center, wiping tears out of her optics as she went. She heard mechs call after her in shock, but she kept her head down and just ploughed on. She made it into her quarters and she locked the door securely behind her, disabling the password setting on the touchpad beside the door. She crossed the room to her berth and collapsed on it with a sob of defeat. She hid her face in her arm, her spark wailing for the mech that had perished in collapsing star.

She fell into recharge tossing and turning in despair. Her spark wailed constantly that day and well into the night for her mate. It was only after many hours of tossing and turning that she finally slipped into a dreamless recharge where she was lying still. She did not hear the jet engine that roared overhead or the sound of someone landing on the balcony outside her room.

The mech that had landed tilted his head curiously at the sight of her curled up on her side with her face hidden from view. Icy blue optics blinked before the glass doors leading out onto the balcony were gently pushed open. The darkness of the room was broken momentarily by the artificial lights that Iacon was infamous for flooding into the room as the doors were opened. The mech pushed them back into place the moment he entered the room, pulling the drapes that hung beside them closer together to block out of the light better.

He turned back towards Oriona and a small smile crept over his face as he walked swiftly towards her. His feet barely made a noise as he approached, his weight evenly displaced over his stride. He stopped beside the bed and sat down beside Oriona's recharging form. He reached out and gently ran the tips of his fingers along her shoulder, relishing in the soft armor that almost conformed to his touch. Oriona gasped as she onlined her optics and whipped herself around to stare at him. Her golden yellow optics widened in fear before she started trembling.

"How did you get in here?" she demanded with a quaking voice. The mech looked towards the glass doors and quirked an optic ridge curiously at her when he spotted her sickened expression. "Never mind, you aren't welcome here," she stated coldly. "Leave!"

The mech tilted his head before letting out a deep rumbling laughter. "Not welcome in my own room?" he asked with a fanged smile.

Oriona's optics widened even more before she leant forward to see the mech's face better. "Galvatron?" she whispered in disbelief before she reached out to touch his cheek.

He took her hand gently in his and nodded his head. "Megatron," he corrected gently. "Galvatron was the name Unicron gave me and I refuse to be associated with it."

She smiled before commenting that she should smack him for being so indecisive. She flung herself into his arms as a new wave of tears started to fall down her face. She sobbed that she thought she had lost him and that he was a fragger for not contacting her to let her know that he was alright. He held her close and rocked her reassuringly in his arms as he whispered that he had not been aware that there was a problem until the last few hours at most. By then she had passed out and waking her would have been disastrous. She whispered that he was an aft before she heard the door to her room open.

"Mom?" Hot Shot called a little shakily. "You okay?"

She looked over Megatron's shoulder and sniffled slightly as she watched her three sons framed in the doorway. They were staring at her like she was crazy and Megatron turned his head slightly to get a good look at his sons. She watched Ironhide and Hot Shot bristle at the sight of another mech in her berth but Side Swipe's face brightened up instantly before he let out a small cry of delight.

"Dad!" he shouted before charging towards the berth.

Megatron smiled as he stretched an arm out to catch his son as he leapt onto him. He snuggled against him in an instant, his adorable blue optics shimmering with tears. Megatron pulled him close and kissed his head reassuringly as he cradled him like a sparkling as he shook with silent tears. Side Swipe had never been embarrassed about crying in front of anyone and knew better than most mechs about the stress it released after a good cry. He snuggled into Megatron's chest as tears fell down his face and Megatron smiled gently as he held his son close. The two of them had formed the closest bond since the end of the war over the Minicons so it was only natural that they were get that close and be that sensitive.

"I missed you," Side Swipe whispered.

"I missed you too, little one," Megatron cooed.

Hot Shot and Ironhide walked over with wide eyes and stared at Megatron as Side Swipe pushed his face into his chest. Oriona smiled fondly at her mate before Hot Shot blurted out that he looked different. Megatron glanced at his hands and moved them slowly around. He commented that intense heat and a parasitic spark will do that to someone. Oriona sighed before resting her head on his now spiky shoulder and murmured that it did not matter to her anymore because he was home and safe. He stroked her cheek in adoration before whispering that he would not be leaving her for a very long time.

She smiled up at him before her com link went off and a very loud, very high-pitched squeal almost blew her audio. The four mechs cringed in pain as the squealing continued and all she could make out was "Starscream", "back", and "aft". She turned off her com link and smacked the side of her head several times to get the ringing to stop before she commented that they should head down to the command center. Megatron grumbled that someone needed to get their vocalizer fixed before he stood up and dropped Side Swipe onto his feet. He grinned happily before chirping that the femme was just excited to see Starscream. He grumbled that the youngling was probably right before they all left for the command center.

When they walked in, they found many mechs with their hands clamped over their audios as Flamewar swung a larger Seeker around and squealed quite loudly. All of them expect Megatron gawked at the red femme as she spun the purple, red, and blue Seeker around and around. The other Seekers were laughing at the display, stating quite loudly that she was reacting like a mate would. She shouted at them to shut up and let her hug her cousin to death for ditching them.

Oriona blinked in surprise as the other mech finally managed to break out of the femme's grip and stumbled away clutching his side. His design was strange, even by their standards, but he was startlingly familiar. His purple optics seemed to bore into Flamewar as she spun around in a circle squealing that he was back. He grumbled before giving his head a hard shake before he crossed his arms over his chest.

"I suppose you haven't noticed that Megatron is back?" he asked with Starscream's familiar and distinctively scratchy voice.

"Megatron?" Flamewar demanded before spinning around to stare at them. "MEGATRON!"

"Slag," Megatron grunted before he was tackled.

He took one step back before returning the squealing femme's hug with a soft chuckle. Oriona took her chance to leap onto Starscream's chest and hug him tightly, whispering that she was sorry that Wingsabre wasn't there to greet him. He replied that he understood why and didn't really blame her for leaving since things had started to get hectic. They both looked up at the rather low growl and smirked at the sight of Jetfire glowering at Megatron as he set Flamewar down on the ground, the femme still squealing uncharacteristically.

"Alright dear," Thundercracker laughed before he walked over and took her by the arms. "I think you've killed everyone's audios now. You can stop."

"But, but, but they're back!" Flamewar chirped.

"I'm sure everyone can see that, dear," he stated before kissing her cheek.

She let out another whine before slumping and crossing her arms over her chest. She grumbled about something and Thundercracker laughed before pulling her close and nibbling on her audio sensor. She let out a much louder squeal before snuggling into him and telling him that she would kill him later when there were not so many witnesses. Skywarp snickered beside Starscream before he whispered that they were going to need audio-plugs for that night. Starscream's face reddened before he looked at the screen over the main console.

Scattershot was working diligently away at his station, his back quivering with each movement he made. Oriona wondered for a moment why he had not greeted his father when she realized that the mech barely even knew him. On top of that, Starscream probably didn't realize who he was either. She made a mental note to introduce the two of them later on. She watched the blue youngling pause before he let out a soft yelp.

"Hey, we have something opening up over headquarters!" he shouted before he brought an image of a green space-bridge up on the main screen.

Everyone stared at it in wonder for a long time before Megatron made the comment that they should go see what it was. Oriona cleared her throat before agreeing with him, feeling slightly embarrassed that she had forgotten about finding out what the oddity was. She ordered everyone outside, pleased when no one argued for once about her authority. They all headed outside and they stared up at the green space bridge, whispering between themselves as to where it came from.

Thundercracker let out a shout before the nose of an ancient Cybertronian spaceship emerged from the spacebridge. They watched in awe as it turned towards them and transformed to reveal a just as ancient mech. He landed with a soft thud before them as three little Minicons hid behind his legs and peered out curiously at them. A few of the femmes behind her whispered how cute the three little ones were and they looked at each other proudly before timidly moving away from the ancient mech's legs. The mech smiled down at them before turning to look at her and Megatron.

"I am Vector Prime," he greeted before nodding to them. "I believe that you are Optimus Prime, sir?"

Megatron's optics narrowed in distaste. "Optimus Prime has not existed for twenty years," he stated coldly. "I am Megatron, her mate and co-ruler."

"Not existed?" the mech asked in shock before pausing and looking down at her, understanding dawning in his optics. "Oh! I am incredibly sorry, ma'am! I was under the impression that Optimus Prime was the name of a mech! So, the infamous leader of Cybertron is a femme; about time."

Oriona smiled before nodding her head. "Please, call me Oriona," she replied before tilting her head. "You said you were a Prime?"

"I was one of the original thirteen created by Primus in the beginning," he replied with a small smile. "I earned the title Prime shortly after...well, I'm sure you know your history."

"That's why your name is so familiar!" Starscream suddenly chirped. "I had to do a project on you in World History back at the Academy. You become the guardian of time."

The old mech smiled before nodding to him and confirming that he was who he believed. Oriona could only stare in shock at him; one of the original thirteen Transformers created by Primus? That made him completely ancient! He turned his ancient optics on her and seemed to pause for a moment before nodding his head.

"I'm sure you are aware of the black hole hovering over Cybertron?" he asked. "It is destroying the very fabric of space; we must stop it."

Oriona sensed her mate's interest perk up at the mentioning of destruction of space but pushed it aside as she asked what he was talking about. He explained that the black hole was Unicron's final attempt to satisfy his intense hunger. Megatron and Starscream shared a glance before rubbing their head in embarrassment. Jetfire sneered at them and was quickly turned on by the other Seekers. Vector Prime glanced at Thundercracker and Skywarp before looking at Starscream curiously.

He asked him if they were his trine mates and Starscream nodded his head. Vector Prime tilted his head before nodding slowly and asked if Flamewar was his mate. Both of them made the exact same disgusted face before replying that they were cousins. Vector Prime apologized immediately before commenting that he merely assumed that since they were standing so close that they were mates. Flamewar smirked before snuggling against Thundercracker and letting out a low purr that evoked a similar noise from the blue mech as his arms snaked around her waist. The old Prime lifted an optic ridge before chuckling and shaking his head.

"Do you have a plan for getting rid of the black hole?" Megatron asked.

"We must find the Cyber Planet Keys," the old mech replied, turning to look at him with slightly with narrowed optics. "And the Omega Lock that they reside within."

"The what?" Skywarp asked in confusion.

"They are ancient artefacts created by Primus and scattered around the galaxy when the Old Ones left to explore the cosmos for other planets with life," Vector Prime replied.

"Must have been the history class I slept through," Megatron commented with a bored expression.

"You slept through a class?" Oriona asked with a small glare.

"The teacher's voice was very boring and even made the gruesome battles of Kaon sound like they were beating each other with wooden boards," he replied with a small smirk.

"That bad?"

"That bad."

Oriona smirked at him before looking over at Vector Prime to find him staring at them in awe. She shifted a little and he seemed to snap out of his trance with a small cough. She asked him what he suggested they did and he replied that it was best to get all of Cybertron's occupants to a planet far away from Cybertron. She and Megatron exchanged glances before he turned to Starscream and the other Seekers and ordered them to get the word out that everyone was to evacuate to Earth as soon as possible. They all saluted before turning and taking to the air, splitting up to cover more ground.

Oriona turned to Jetfire and started to order him to do the same thing. She was stunned when he just stared at her like she was crazy. He looked away and snorted at her order, acting as if she hadn't said anything.

"Jetfire, she gave you an order," Scavenger stated coldly.

"My orders come from Optimus Prime," he replied evenly. "Not this little femme."

Megatron took a step forward with a dangerous snarl. "Your leader is Oriona Pax and your loyalty should be with her no matter what form she takes," he spat viciously.

"That's rich coming from you, _Galvatron_," he sneered in reply. "If I remember correctly, you were fighting against us less than twenty years ago."

Megatron's frame rattled with rage before he stormed forward and grabbed him by the throat. He snarled for him to head out to the outer cities and spread the news that everyone was to head to Earth. Jetfire glared at him before he was dropped onto his aft and told to get moving. He turned and took to the sky, his red visor flashing in outrage. Oriona sighed before rubbing her forehead in irritation; why did he have to cause so much trouble for her?

She ordered everyone else back inside to prepare for the trip ahead of them. Scavenger and Landmine patted her shoulder affectionately as they walked by, nodding to one another as they headed inside. Prowl and Bluestreak gave her apologetic smiles as they walked past, whispering to each other that Jetfire was becoming more of a problem each day. She sighed in exhaustion before Vector Prime rested a hand on her shoulder.

"His actions are no one's fault but his own," he stated gently. "A broken spark is a monstrous thing. Give him some time to move on."

She sighed before nodding, patting his hand in thanks. Megatron stopped beside her before gently wrapping his arm around her waist, his anger already waning. She reached up to touch his chest gently, smiling up at him in understanding before they turned towards the building and headed in. She was not aware of Vector Prime's worried look at Megatron's back or the soft murmur of blessing he asked Primus to give to both of them.

"The darkness in his spark is still there," he murmured before sighing. "Primus, please don't let history repeat itself with these two. They deserve better than this constant spark break."

**Author's note:** I'm back! And with the final story arc for the _It Takes a Girl_ trilogy! Whooo! This one is going to explain EVERYTHING, hopefully. Right down to the nitty-gritty stuff 3 Hope you like the last instalment. But be warned; there will be an Animated-version that will follow it. Hope you enjoy everything!


	2. Earth Base

Chapter 2 Earth Base

Oriona watched Vector Prime as he brought his map of the universe up to date. He claimed that the map would lead them to the four Cyber Planet Keys that they needed to gather. Starscream had insisted on making a copy of the map, just so that if they always had two on hand in case one of them got misplaced. Vector Prime had wanted to synch his map first and then they would work on a copy, but she could see the hesitation in the old mech's face.

"Almost done, Vector?" she asked.

"Almost," he confirmed before shooting her a worried look. "Oriona, this Megatron character," he murmured before shaking his head. "Is he trustworthy?"

"I wouldn't trust anyone more," she replied before narrowing her optics. "Why do you ask?"

"It's nothing, just a feeling," he replied. "Perhaps it is merely remnants of your war left on him that I sense."

She felt her antennas twitch in annoyance before she looked over at the doors. Flamewar entered in the middle of a heated argument with Quickstart before she turned to look at Oriona with her lips pursed. Oriona sensed an awkward question coming and mentally prepared herself for Vector Prime's reaction as the femme Seeker stormed over.

"Ori, we got a problem," Flamewar snorted before snorting and crossing her arms. "And no, it has nothing to do with interfacing...for once."

"What's wrong?"

"Namely Wingsabre turning off her com link," Quickstart replied. "And Flamewar won't contact her via spark-link."

"I told you, she's too far away!" Flamewar hissed.

"Don't give me that," Quickstart started to growl.

Oriona silenced them both before telling Quickstart to ask Starscream to get in contact; his connection was much stronger than Flamewar's. Quickstart grumbled before activating her com link to talk to the wayward scientist. Starscream was in Red Alert's lab doing experiments of some sort for alternate ways to destroy the black hole. They did not want to dismiss any possibilities, even if the old Prime claimed it was the only way to destroy it.

Oriona sighed before she felt Megatron's huge hands settle on her waist. She smiled as she glanced up at her larger mate, meeting his strange blue optics as they gazed lovingly down at her. She murmured a soft greeting before they met for a brief kiss, desire flooding their bond. They knew better than to just head for their room, however, and worked to stop out the desire before it became too much. His hands stayed on her waist as she leant on his front and watched Vector Prime through half-lidded optics.

"Finished," the old mech stated before turning towards them. "Ah, Lord Megatron, you've arrived. Good."

"My apologies," Megatron rumbled before she felt his frame shudder slightly. "I had other things that needed my attention."

"It is quite alright, sir," Vector Prime replied before holding the map up. "You arrived at a good time, anyways. The map is complete."

Megatron narrowed his optics at the map before he glanced up at Starscream entered the command center. They shared a look before standing shoulder to shoulder as Vector Prime explained that they were going to have to decipher the coordinates one at a time in order to find the planets that held the Keys. Scattershot asked how they could move around the Universe if they were supposed to be in hiding and not have access to the space bridge network.

Vector Prime pulled out a sword from the kibble on his back and turned it slightly. He explained that he could open a dimension gate using the sword to split the fabric of time. He was unable to created gates to specific locations, though, and would need assistance. He glanced at Oriona before commenting that the Matrix of Leadership would probably be enough to clarify the location. Oriona and Megatron looked at each other before coughing and looking away.

"Uh, the Matrix is kinda, sorta...split," Oriona admitted, rubbing her head.

"Or melted, one of the two," Megatron added with a small shrug. "Either way, it's spread out between the two of us."

Vector Prime's optics widened before he murmured something and shook his head. He paused as a loud shout echoed down the halls and Side Swipe, Ironhide, and a hefty green femme walked into the room snarling at each other. Oriona lifted an optic ridge at them as Side Swipe stood up to his full height to glare down at the smaller femme, snarling about her watching her mouth. She spat at him that "mommy" was not always going to save his aft.

Ironhide went to lunge, only for Scorponok to grab him and haul him backwards with a soft snarl. The green femme grinned viciously at Ironhide as he thrashed a little in his mate's grip, his blue optics promising death before Scorponok kissed his cheek. She whispered something to him while swinging her tail slightly and earned a small smile from Ironhide as his face turned a light shade of red. Side Swipe gave them a small glare before he crossed his arms over his chest and turned his gaze on the hefty femme.

He snorted before turning to look at Oriona. He stated that everyone had been evacuated from Iacon and Polyhex. Evacuations from the other cities were just as swift and everyone should be on Earth safely within the day. Oriona nodded before looking at the femme and resting her hands on her hips with a quirked optic ridge.

"Causing trouble again, Overhaul?" she asked before sighing. "Must you aggravate them?"

"It's just too easy," Overhaul replied with a shrug. "Mechs give themselves too much credit."

Oriona sighed before shaking her head, wondering how Overhaul had ever managed to survive the war with her attitude. She was a powerful warrior, no one could deny that, but the way she interacted with the others left much to be desired. Landmine often just smacked her over the head and told her to smarten up before he got the bat.

She lifted her head as she heard Overhaul and Side Swipe start bickering. She sighed again before calling Side Swipe over to her to get the two of them to stop. She knew that they did like each other, like siblings, and that the fights were as playful as the Seeker-squabbles, but they did get annoying. She stroked his head before commenting that they had to lay off the fighting. He shrugged before replying that he was winning and that was why she was throwing insults. She smirked before nuzzling him affectionately, telling him that she was going to make him pay for that.

He sighed before Vector Prime called for attention. They all turned to look at him and he made a small gesture towards her.

"We must head for Earth now; there is nothing more we can do until we find the Keys," he stated. "Is there anywhere that we can lay low? I doubt Earth will welcome us."

Oriona sighed; he was correct. After the incident with the Terrorcons, Earth's governments were not so willing to let them go to Earth. All of their cities were now run by humans who knew nothing of the refining process to use all the energon it uncovered. Jetfire piped up that they could use the base in Nebraska, but Red Alert snorted that the humans had taken control of it shortly after they left. Oriona sighed before rubbing her optics and stating that they'd have to find somewhere else to build a base out of reach and gaze of the humans.

Megatron let out a low growl before stating that they'd think of what to do when they got to Earth. Jetfire glared at him before Thundercracker piped up that he needed to get a better Earth vehicle disguise. Megatron paused before snorting and commenting that he would make do with a Cybertronian fighter jet for the time being. Oriona shot him an amused look before turning to Inferno and telling him to set up a space bridge to an area on Earth with a decent set up for a base.

They all headed for the space bridge ramp, Megatron's arm wrapped securely around her middle when Jetfire wandered too close. She patted his hand reassuringly, but she could still feel the subsonic growl penetrate her body as he stared Jetfire down. She shared an exasperated look with Quickstart before she watched the space bridge take shape. She shouted for everyone to transform, nodding to herself at everyone's Earth alt modes; except Megatron, Starscream, and Vector Prime naturally. She slipped into her alt mode and twisted the front wheels in excitement; she always did love Earth.

Inferno gave the okay for them to go and Megatron flew forward with the other Seekers to lead the way. She revved her engine before driving after tem, calling down the bond for Megatron to slow down. He purred that she had to keep up if she wanted him and she growled that he was being an aft. He laughed at her before the space bridge opened up into a huge canyon in the middle of the mountains. They all transformed and scanned the landscape, taking note of the huge rock walls on either side of them.

"This looks like a great spot," Flamewar commented before hugging Inferno. "Nice work, darling."

He grinned sheepishly before rubbing his head, murmuring that it was nothing special. Hot Shot laughed at his friend's expression before commenting that they should start looking for a suitable place to set up their base. Wheeljack nodded and started to comment on something before he paused and looked around. Hot Shot asked him what was wrong before they heard three very loud gasps.

They all looked up and spotted three human sparklings staring at them. Judging by their stunned looks, they had no idea giant robots existed. Thundercracker blinked once before waving at them, asking them if they lived nearby. One of the two males, the older one by the looks of things, took a terrified step backwards while the only female brought her arms up as if to defend herself. The youngest male looked captivated and was staring at them in awe. Megatron made a low comment about love-struck fools and Oriona elbowed him as hard as she could.

"It is alright, little ones," she cooed gently as she took a step forward. "We won't harm you."

The female, like always, was the first to step forward. Oriona smiled at her reassuringly before offering her hand for the youngling to step on. The young girl hesitated for a moment before she cautiously climbed down from the rock wall and onto her hand. Oriona brought her slowly to her chest before offering her shoulder to stand on. Megatron let out a possessive growl and she shot him a withering look; now was not the time to get jealous of a human.

"What are you?" the girl asked as Hot Shot and Side Swipe walked forward to pick up her companions.

"Cybertronians," Oriona replied before chuckling. "Giant robots from space."

"Really?" the younger of the males demanded. "That's so cool! I'm Bud, that's my brother Coby, and she's Lori."

"Nice to make your acquaintance," she replied. "I am Oriona Pax," she jerked her thumb towards Megatron as he hovered possessively behind her. "The hovering possessive mech is my mate Megatron."

Megatron let out a low growl as the human sparklings waved, making the more skittish male jerk backwards in surprise. Hot Shot, who the young male was sitting on, reassured him that Megatron would not harm him. He settled down, but his eyes showed his fear and apprehension as Megatron continued to stand behind her. Oriona sighed before asking if they knew anything about the local rock structure that would allow them to build a base.

Bud started talking in excitement about secret bases and Lori shrugged before replying that they could build here if they wanted to. Apparently, her father had wanted to build houses here before the market went soft. Oriona let out a low sigh before muttering that she understood how that felt. She turned to the others and told them to start digging according to Scattershot's schematics. They hesitated for a moment and she thought for sure she was going to have to them tell her that they weren't going to. Instead, Ironhide turned towards the cliff face and drove his fist into rock as hard as he could.

The others joined in quickly, whispering to one another about hating grunt work. Oriona sighed as Lori was scooped up by Vector Prime and set on the ground a short distance away to introduce the Minicons to the human sparklings. She vented another soft sigh before she felt Megatron's arms wrap around her. She smiled as she leant against his chest as he squatted slightly to pull her closer. He kissed her cheek as his arms encircled her fully.

"This is getting unacceptable," he whispered. "You are their leader and they refuse to listen to orders."

"It is there right to refuse," she replied softly.

"Not in matters like this," he growled before pulling her closer so that her cheek was resting in his throat. "They need to be taught to respect you."

"They do."

"Do not lie on their behalf," he growled again before standing up and cradling her to his chest.

He told Starscream to contact him if they ran into trouble before he lifted off. Oriona squawked that they couldn't just leave and he just smirked in response. She shot Flamewar a desperate look and she just smirked viciously and waved while shouting at them to have fun. Oriona made a mental note to stick a "shoot me" sign to the femme's backside when she saw her again. Megatron nuzzled her as he took off across the mountain range, making sure to stay above the cloud cover to avoid any attention from the humans.

They flew for a little while, both of them sharing their delight at the feel of the wind against them. Oriona was not a flying model and did not truly understand the joys of flying, she could sense her mate's overwhelming love at the gentle caress of the wind. She inhaled deeply as her mate did a few loops, his frame almost rattling in delight at being able to fly again. She stroked his cheek affectionately before he smiled down at her with a delighted sparkle in his optics. He held her close as he started to descend into the mountain range, scanning the surrounding hills for a suitable place to land.

She blinked at the cave he touched down in front of before turning to look up at him. He scanned the opening carefully before walking in, each foot placed cautiously as if he expected the ceiling to collapse on them. When they were a fair distance from the entrance, deep enough in to be out of the rays of sunlight, he set her on her back on the ground and rose over her.

"It's been a while," he murmured.

"I know," she replied before she stroked his cheek in adoration. "I might be a little rusted up."

"I just have to be careful then," he teased before kissing her.

"Not too carefully," she replied before kissing back.

She let out a soft gasp as his hands slid over the curve of her hips. She had forgotten how gentle his touch was after ten years and she clung to him as wave after wave of desire crashed on her. She was not usually the one who tried to rush the interface session along; when he was in a good mood and not overly lusty she enjoyed the long foreplay that they underwent; but she suddenly just wanted to get to the part where they played with electricity. She let out a soft moan as she ran her hand up his chest and he chuckled softly at her noises.

His fingers dipped under her armor and toyed with sensitive wires. She growled slightly as she ran her hands desperately over his chest. He knew her body enough that he could offline his optics and just feel his way along. His body was new to her and she knew nothing of where she could slip her hand in to make him feel good. At least before he had wings; now there was nothing that even resembled wings on him. She had to start over from scratch and search him head to foot just to find what parts of him were the most sensitive.

He smiled before whispering to go for his hips. She followed his advice and managed to slip her fingers under the oddly tight armor. She heard him let out a deep moan of pleasure as her fingers brushed against his protoform in search of a few wires or tubing. The tips of her fingers found delicate circuitry and he shuddered beneath her as he let out a deep moan of desire and pleasure. She purred as she continued to roam around his waist in search of delicate wiring, only to gasp as his hands sank into the latches on her pelvic plating and gently start prying them apart. She purred softly as his fingers brushed delicately over her circuitry and she arched towards him.

"Now," she half begged.

He purred hungrily before she heard the latch on his pelvic plating give way. She let out a soft moan as she felt him enter her port, the wires lashing around in an attempt to find the plug-ins. She wiggled for a moment, squeaking softly as sparks flew around inside her port, before she felt an electrical current flow up her torso. She let out a long moan of delight before she sent the current back through the wires and into her mate. He leant over her and pressed his face into her chest, moaning as they volleyed the current between them.

It gained power as it rolled from one body to the next. Oriona arched into Megatron's body, effectively shoving his face further into her chest. His glossa snaked out to lick teasingly into the seam of her chest plate, looping around a few wires and tugging them. She arched more with a lusty moan, clawing at her mate's chest as she felt overload approaching swiftly. She moaned that piece of information and he pulled her closer to him as he left her chest alone and dragged his glossa instead up her neck. She let out a loud moan of pleasure as another wave of electricity joined the volley they were already exchanging.

She felt overload hit hard and fast shortly afterwards. She tipped her head back and moaned Megatron's name to the ceiling of the cave as her sight was reduced to white static. She felt the wave of electricity move down through her body before funnelling into Megatron. She heard his bellow of delight before his whole frame rattled beneath her, his overload as intense as hers had been. They collapsed to the ground and cuddled closer together, mewling and snuggling as they slowly came down off the high.

"That was enjoyable," she murmured.

"Better than I remember," Megatron sighed before holding her close. "Shall we get a bit of recharge before heading back."

She nodded in agreement before snuggling closer and kissing him. She wished him a good recharge before powering down.

ASDFGHJKL;'ASDFGHJKL;'ASDFGHJKL;'

"I feel like a voyeur."

"Well, we did just sit here."

"Should we have moved?"

"No, Megatron would have killed us."

"Pleasant."

"Isn't it?"

"Are we going to interface?"

"After they leave."

"...Can I top?"

"...Is that physically possible for you?"

"That's mean!"

"I'm stating the truth."

"It's still mean! What's wrong with you lately?"

"Nothing more than cabin fever."

"We do need to stretch our wings."

"When they leave, so will we."

"Yeah!"

"Not so loud!"

ASDFGHJKL;'ASDFGHJKL;'ASDFGHJKL;'

Oriona's optics flickered online as she heard her com link beep repeatedly. She yawned before pressing it, mumbling a groggy greeting. Overhaul's voice drifted through her com link and she was complaining about bonded pairs taking off. She replied that there was nothing she could do to stop that and gently shook Megatron's shoulder to wake him up. He grunted softly before his blue optics onlined and he stretched himself out a little, grumbling about having his recharge disturbed.

She rolled her optics before flicking his head as she stood up and told Overhaul that they were on their way. Megatron grumbled that they weren't leaving until he was ready and she replied that she would shoot his tube off if he didn't move. He gawked at her before demanding to know why she would shoot that part off out of all the places she could hit. She replied that it got him moving faster and he grumbled bitterly as he stood up. He gave her a glance before scooping her up and swinging her over his shoulder.

She squealed in indignity as she dangled over his shoulder. She shouted at him to hold her properly and he replied that she could not shoot him if she could not see what she was aiming for. She growled as he took off, clinging to his shoulder as she felt herself tilt. She swore at him the entire way while ignoring his loud laughter. She tried her best to make it sound like she was serious about the threats she was shouting, but she only succeed in sounding terrified. He teased her that she should not have been afraid of falling as he would never let his "cyber-bunny" get hurt. If she wasn't busy clinging to his shoulder, she might have killed him for calling her that.

When they landed, it was to a small chorus of laughter. She was dropped onto her feet and she promptly punched Megatron's chest. She glared at him before grumbling about not having anyone's respect anymore. She turned to face Landmine as he stepped forward, shooing Overhaul away as she opened her mouth to complain about something. He informed her that the base had been constructed; they just needed to apply the stealth coding to make sure that the human radar system could not find them. She nodded before asking how long that would take and informed him that she planned on helping with that considering she had been abducted during the actual construction.

"Ain't no real loss," Landmine laughed. "Best that Megatron stole you away than to hear you two going at it in the bushes."

"Thank you, Landmine," she growled as she ducked her head a little and felt her face heat up in embarrassment.

He laughed before leading her into the base to show her around. She could see the others still moving around with the minor detail of the base occupying them. Hot Shot and Coby nodded from where they were setting up the security system, the human sparkling's eyes sparkling in delight. Lori and Wheelie were setting up the human's area of the base, shouting at the taller mechs if they needed help; it seemed that Wheelie was faring quite well with the humans that were around his size and she heard Lori tell him that he was adorable a few times when he started rhyming and humming. She smiled to herself before she caught sight of Bud and Jolt trying to explain something to Jetfire.

Their optics locked for a second before Landmine called for her to keep up. She trotted after him and stopped beside him as he held up a spray can. He explained that she could start in the corridor marked D on the schematics and work her way along when she finished. She nodded as she took the spray can and loaded it into her blaster, setting it to release the coding instead of the laser. She told him that she would see him later before she turned and headed down the needed corridor.

"Since when do you like to do grunt work?" Megatron asked as he fell into step beside her.

"I need to do my part for the construction of the base," she replied before she started to apply the coding. "It would not be fair otherwise."

"I suppose," he agreed a little coldly before he sighed and leant against the wall. "Jetfire's causing problems."

"How so?"

"Apparently, while we were gone, he demanded to know why Starscream was left in charge instead of him when he had been the Autobots' Second in Command."

"That's Jetfire for you though," she sighed before moving down to the next section of the hallway.

He snorted in disgust before growling that Jetfire was asking for a beating. She sighed again and told him to leave the jet alone before he did something stupid. He actually laughed and informed her that beating Jetfire was both entertaining and humorous and always worth it. She gave her blaster a small shake to check to see how much coding was left before she turned and sprayed him with enough to coat his chest.

She quickly took off down the hallway as he let out a bellow of shock. The last thing she needed was for him to get a hold of her blaster and return the favour. She sprayed what was left of the coding on the wall before subspacing the blaster as she heard him give chase. She let out a squeal as she charged around the corner and almost knocked Scavenger onto his aft as she rushed past. She shouted an apology before running into Blaster and knocking the two of them onto the floor.

"Runnin' from Megatron?" the orange femme asked before Megatron took the corner and slid a few steps sideways. "Yup. Run!"

Oriona was gone before Megatron had taken two steps, the orange space cruiser racing beside her. Blaster started pounding an Earth song over her radio and Oriona had the distinct feeling that she was mocking her. Judging by how hard the humans were laughing when they raced into the command center to hide behind Constructicon Maximus and Bruticus Maximus, she guessed she was right. Megatron walked into the command center calmly before grinning viciously as he spotted them behind the two large mechs. She and Blaster blinked at each other before quickly high-tailing it away from the two loyal followers and hiding instead behind Landmine and Scavenger.

"Does he ever give up?" Blaster asked before they darted for the door again.

"Nope," Oriona replied before she felt her scruff grabbed. "NO!"

Megatron swung her across his shoulders and held her there as she wiggled desperately to get away. He called over his shoulder that he needed to teach her a lesson and not to come looking for them for several hours. The room exploded with laughter as he left the room and she wondered if the mechs privately had a bet going on how many times Megatron could embarrass her in the span of a day.

**Author's note:** Sorry for the long wait, everyone. Between exams and studying, there was very little time to actually sit down and type this up. So, three weeks later, here's chapter two! Also, updates may be a little slow because I have a job now and I work really long shifts. Good-bye summer, hello University O_o And the song I could hear playing during the chase scene was Yakkity Sax.


	3. To Speed Planet

Chapter 3 To Speed Planet

Oriona gave the screen in front of her a questioning look. It seemed too easy and too soon to have located the location of the first Cyber Planet Key. Sure, the map had been a huge help, but to find the coordinates of a planet that had an orbit they were unsure of and pinpoint them was another matter. Even with Vector Prime's reassurance that they had found the planet they were looking for did not soothe her worries or her suspicion.

She had observed Starscream playing around with his copy of the map. He would mumble to himself while making minor adjustments, pointing to certain spots on the three-dimensional map before shaking his head. He always realized when she was watching and would carefully put the map away before asking if she needed anything. His gentle, loyal smile always struck her hard in the fuel tank and she would smile back. Starscream, even after ten years, was still more loyal to her than most of her followers.

She had to fight to get anyone to follow her orders, not that she really blamed them. She did not look like a leader. She was too small, she lacked any sort of impressive upgrade, and most importantly she did not even sound like someone to follow. She had to look up to meet most mechs or femmes' optics and her voice would quiver if they shot her a filthy look. Ten years was all it had taken to rob her of her dignity and courage and return her to the meek little femme that hated to hurt anyone's feelings. That femme could never lead anyone either.

All the worry and anxiety around her spark was having an effect on her mate. Megatron was twice as surly as normal, snapping at anyone that was not doing some form of work. He butted heads almost daily with Jetfire, demanding to know why he was failing to follow orders. The Seekers had deemed the shuttle as one of "clipped wings" and ignored him whenever he tried to get them to help him with his case. Megatron had taken the Seekers' dislike for Jetfire as a sign that he was unwelcome and attacked him steadily.

Jetfire did not help himself to begin with. He refused to follow anyone's orders and generally tried to sabotage any of the projects underway to stop the black hole. Oriona's patience for the mech were wearing thin and he was not helping with his constant flirting and insistence to join him in her berth at night. No matter how many times Megatron beat him senseless for attempting to steal her away, the green shuttle; or rather cargo plane after he scanned a new Earth mode; just continued with his antics.

"Hey, Oriona, you awake in there?" Flamewar asked before knocking gently on the top of her head. "Hello?"

"I'm quite awake," she replied a little coldly before stepping away from the other femme. "Forgive me for spacing out."

"No problem, boss," Scattershot replied before blinking shyly at her. "We were all just wondering who would be going."

Oriona tilted her head, ignoring the shouts of fighting mechs as they tried to decide for themselves who was going. She wanted someone with a level head to go, as well as continue to follow orders when they arrived. Her first choice was Red Alert without a moment's hesitation. He knew how to behave on foreign planets better than anyone else in the group and he would not question her orders. She would also need someone who was a good warrior to go with him. They had no idea what sort of civilization existed on this planet and the locals could be hostile. Hot Shot was the first mech that came to mind, but she knew if she sent him the others would think the choice was made just because he was her son. However, none of the others were as qualified as Hot Shot; they would just have to deal with it.

"Red Alert," she stated as she turned to face the medic, "you and Hot Shot will go to this planet in search of the Cyber Planet Key."

"Alright," Hot Shot laughed as he clapped the other mech's shoulder. "Just like old times, right, Red?"

Red Alert nodded before looking at her. She told him to keep a low profile and to avoid contacts with the natives. She did not need an intergalactic incident because they somehow managed to insult someone. Hot Shot asked if they were allowed to interact when they learnt the culture. She replied that he could only when he was positive that he would not insult anyone.

"Why does he get to go?" Jetfire demanded, storming over and looming over her. "Hot Shot is hardly a capable fighter!"

"Hey!"

"Hot Shot is qualified for his part in the mission," Oriona replied. "I hope you were not expecting me to send you when you fail to acknowledge the chain of command."

He glared at her before snarling and pulling his fist back. She braced herself for the attack, knowing full well that even flinching would make her look inferior. He barely had time to even throw his fist forward before Megatron had him by the wings and pulling him backwards with a vicious glint in his optics. The pair snarled at each other before they tumbled to the ground and started exchanging blows. Oriona watched with narrowed optics as Megatron proceeded to beat Jetfire senseless.

The sound of metal striking metal was almost music. No one spoke up to stop the fight, but the look in many optics was horror as energon started leaking across the floor from a ruptured fuel line in Jetfire's abdomen. He clawed at Megatron's armor, tearing his fingers open on the sharp spikes that adorned him. There was a momentary pause where Megatron's hand stayed almost affectionately on Jetfire's shoulder, before there was a soft crackle of electricity and Jetfire started screaming in pain. Blue veins of electricity erupted from Megatron's hand and coursed their way down Jetfire's body.

He withered in agony, his visor starting to turn white as his pain receptors started to overwhelm him. Megatron's dark laugh rang throughout the command center, effectively drowning out the screams from the shuttle below him. Megatron's electrically covered hand pulled back into a fist and he prepared to ram it into Jetfire's face, a vicious smile on his face. Oriona decided that he had gone far enough and stepped forward to rest a hand on his shoulder.

"That's enough," she stated softly.

"You're too soft," he growled in reply but stood up anyways.

She gave him an even look before regarding the beaten mech on the ground. She cast Ratchet a glance and he moved forward without the need of orders to drag Jetfire's aft to the medbay. He snapped at Demolisher to give him a hand and whipped a wrench at him the second the green mech moved to clap his hands. The green mech was quick to scuttle over after that, grumbling that he didn't need to be so violent.

Megatron snorted as the two mechs hoisted Jetfire over their shoulders and headed for the medbay. He was obviously unimpressed with having to let him live. Oriona sighed before asking Vector Prime to open the space bridge. He gave her a cautious look before slicing his sword through the very fabric of time and space. She stared at the green portal in fascination before she and Megatron gripped each other's hand tightly. She inhaled deeply before focusing on the Matrix within her spark, feeling the power that resided there. The ancient artefact reacted slowly at first, almost as if it was asking why it was being awakened.

The moment it sensed the half in Megatron's spark reacting, however, it immediately filled her with power. She could almost feel the fire flickering across her armor as she and Megatron both focused on the coordinates of the planet. The others gasped softly and she onlined her optics without realizing she had offlined them and watched the green space bridge widen. The image of a long road that was suspended above miles of sand took shape and Hot Shot whistled in admiration.

She wished both of them good luck as the power fell dormant again. Hot Shot nodded before he and Red Alert walked through, shouting over his shoulder that he'd bring Side Swipe back a souvenir. Side Swipe let out a fake cheer, his lips pursed in annoyance. No doubt he was not happy at being left behind while his brother went out to do the hard work. Oriona turned to speak to him and the floor rushed up to meet her.

Megatron's arms wrapped around her before she connected with the solid surface and hoisted her up against his chest. He gave her a worried look and she smiled back before reassuring him that she was alright. He gave her a sour look before leaving the command center, shouting over his shoulder that the first person to disturb her was going to regret it. She grumbled that he was being a little harsh and he snorted before replying that her recharge was more important than a few problems around the base.

"Megatron, I'm fine," she sighed as they entered their quarters. "Really."

"You're resting," he stated gently as he set her down. "You need it."

"I'm fine," she repeated before relaxing into the berth. "But it does feel good to lie here."

Megatron smiled before leaning over and kissing her forehead. "Sweet dreams, Oriona."

She smiled up at him before yawning and rolling onto her side. She felt his presence leave the room and she slipped into recharge wondering where he went. Megatron, to the ignorance of the rest of the base, was not on Earth anymore. He knew the coordinates of the new planet and he had plans of his own, but first, he needed to recruit some of the locals.

He had at his disposal his own space bridge system. He wasn't sure how or why, but he could enter a dimension all his own. It resembled that of a volcano, with craggy rocks reaching out into a dark sky and a molten lava floor with patches of bare rock to walk on. There were also monstrous flames that leapt around the dimension, making the entire place almost unbearably hot. Yet, somehow, he was never burnt or melted when he came in contact with the flames. He had seen Starscream reel away with a howl of agony when he had strayed too close to a tongue of flame, but he could walk through them and not even start having condensation build on his frame. Though this dimension, he could go anywhere so long as he had the right coordinates.

He stepped out into a dark tunnel and looked around curiously. He could hear the wind howling by outside and he wondered vaguely about how bad the flying conditions were. Not that it mattered really, he reflected before he heard voices heading for him. He smirked before shifting into his dragster mode, marvelling at how streamline he was; he was so use to having bulky alt modes that the swiftness of both his jet-mode and car-mode astonished him.

He watched a small red motorbike and a much large green three-wheeled car drive towards him. They were arguing about something and the motorbike kept swinging its back end around to smack the car's side. He revved his engine to get their attention and smirked when he heard the green car yelped in surprise.

"Hey, who's this guy?" the green one asked, his voice suggesting that he was a little on the dumb side. "Think he's friendly?"

Megatron fired at them, just to see how they would react. He was not disappointed.

"No! Not friendly!" the red motorbike squealed in fear.

"Maybe he's related to that cute scooter you tormented," the car suggested. "I told you, you should have been nicer to her."

"She was NOT cute," the motorbike snarled back. "And she called me stupid! Not to mention...! AW SLAG!"

Megatron had transformed and flown over top of the squabbling pair and now stood proud in the center of the road. The motorbike let out a small whine before transforming and attempting to tackle him. He knocked the small bike aside with a small movement of his arm, smirking at the sound of metal striking metal as he hit the wall. The massive car charged at him and transformed, the massive mech's fist pulled back to strike him. He rolled his optics in annoyance before grabbing the mech by the head and whipping him into the wall beside his companion.

"You both work for me now, understood?" he snorted.

"Sure thing, whatever you say boss," the larger of the pair replied with a cough.

The red motorbike winced before getting to his feet. He rubbed his back for a second before shaking himself out and commenting that he could have been a little softer. He shot the mech a look before he froze and blinked in surprise. The motorbike had curves and had softer features than others he had seen in his life. The bike gave his head a shake before smacking a delicate looking hand to her helmet.

"Are you a femme?" Megatron asked.

The bike looked up at him in horror before spinning around and glaring at the other mech. "You said I didn't look like a mech!" he accused.

"You don't!" the green mech squeaked. "You look very feminine, Ransack."

"Then why did he have to ask?" the mech who was actually a femme demanded.

"Forgive me," Megatron stated quickly. "I have not had many encounters with femmes with your style of alt mode. Most choose a much more...flashy type of motorcycle."

The femme turned to him and snorted. "Buncha prissies," she spat. "Those alt modes ain't no good for racing!" She paused and tilted her head before slumping her shoulders. "I...suppose I could forgive you for messing my sex up, but don't let it happen again!"

Megatron was impressed by this short femme's bravado. He had beaten her without even exerting any force yet she had just acted as if she was doing him favour. She had spunk, he'd give her that, and he enjoyed femmes with spunk; they made life a little more interesting. He chuckled at her statement before touching his chest and promising not to make the same mistake twice. She grinned in response before planting her hands on her hips and asking what he needed them for.

"I'm looking for something called the Cyber Planet Kay," he replied. "Have you any idea where it could be?"

"Cyber Planet Key?" she asked before scratching her helm. "Can't say I've ever heard of it; I mean, we use these keys to make us a little stronger, but I've never heard of a Cyber _Planet_ Key."

Megatron frowned before crossing his arms. Was it possible that only high-ranking members of this planet knew about the Key? Did _any_ of them know? He watched the green mech turn to his partner and tilt his head curiously.

"Think Override might know?" he asked.

"She probably does," the femme sighed.

"And who is Override?" Megatron asked curiously.

"Leader of Velocitron...sorta," the femme replied with a small shrug. "Here, whoever wins the Speed Planet Cup is considered the leader. She's the current champion so we follow what she says in racing matters."

"And she might know about where the Key is located?" he asked.

"Possibly," the femme replied. "I've never heard of it so maybe it's a leader thing, right?"

Megatron nodded. "See to it that you ask around about the Key; I want as much information as you can gather," he ordered.

"We'll get right on it!" the femme replied before saluting. "Oh, my name's Ransack, by the way. He's Crumplezone."

Megatron smirked and nodded as the two transformed and drove off. He had to admit that the pair were a little odd for each other; Ransack obviously had the CPU between them; but if they worked well together, he was not going to complain. He watched them leave before opening the dimension gate behind him; there would be time to see into this theory of Ransack's later. Right now he had to get back to his mate before she awoke.

**Author's note:** Gah! Why am I taking so long to write these chapters up? Oh well, here's the next instalment for all you wonderful people that have put up with these insanely long stories. Thank you greatly!


	4. Meeting Override

Chapter 4 Meeting Override

"Isn't this awesome?" Hot Shot shouted as he raced down the road.

Red Alert sighed softly. Hot Shot always had a love for racing, even when he was in training. It was always about how fast he could get it done and how quickly he could get the instructor confused. Everything was centered around speed and racing. Not that this was a bad thing. It came in handy when his mission was to get an injured soldier out of harm's way. Even with their undercover mission at the moment, Hot Shot's adoration for speed was coming in handy.

They had had a run-in with two local delinquents and Hot Shot had rushed to the aid of an old mech and his student. While Red Alert had been stunned by the ferocity that the small femme had had upon attacking Hot Shot, the yellow mech did not seem to have noticed. The old mech, called Breakdown, assured them that the two trouble-makers were usually much nicer, but something must have really set the femme off for her to start harassing him.

Ransack, the name of the small femme, had a bad case of small-mech syndrome and felt the need to prove herself in everything. Surprisingly, the femme was soft-sparked most of the time and naturally very helpful, but lately had hit a very rough time. Clocker, Breakdown's student, mentioned a problem with other femmes her age and the overwhelming desire to fit into both the world of the mechs and the femmes. Her massive partner in crime seemed to be trying to soothe the rift between the maturing femme's worlds, but there was only so much he could do with his limited processor capacity.

"Hot Shot's so cool!" Clocker chirped from beside Red Alert, drawing him out of his thoughts. "Can you believe how fast he is?"

"He gets it from his mother," Red Alert chuckled. "From what I've heard, she liked going as fast as she could as well."

"I'll have to meet this femme some time," Breakdown chuckled. "She sounds like someone I can swap stories with. Real smart too, if what you were telling me is true."

Red Alert chuckled as he sped up to catch Hot Shot. They were currently heading to a huge racetrack to meet the "leader" of the Speed Planet. They had been on the planet for a little over a week but already they were comfortable with the local culture and ways. As long as they were fast and loved to race, they could do just about anything. It made things rather easy, even if Red Alert's alt mode did not allow him to go as fast as most of the racers on Speed Planet.

Clocker transformed at the base of a humongous crater. He explained that their leader's favourite racetrack was inside of it. If she was anywhere, it was up there training for the Planet Cup. Hot Shot was the first to start driving up the road to the edge of the crater, shouting that he would beat the leader with his front axle missing. Red Alert sighed before following; he was so full of himself.

The road leading up to the track was long and winding. Red Alert could feel the tension building around them as they headed farther up the incline. Hot Shot kept edging forward, asking them if they could go faster. Breakdown laughed at him, obviously highly amused by the younger mech's questions. Clocker chirped that he could go faster if Hot Shot wanted and both of them took off.

"Younglings," Breakdown laughed. "Can't live with 'em, take ship out for spare parts."

"You sound like my dad," Red Alert chuckled.

"Sounds like a smart mech."

"Smart and deadly aim."

"Throws stuff?"

"Wrenches."

"Really?"

"Yup. Quite interesting really, especially when he and my aunt start at it."

"I have a feeling I'm going to like these friends of yours."

Red Alert chuckled at the old mech's statement. He had a feeling that the others were going to like him too considering how laid back and agreeable he was. Clocker was going to end up being sparklinged by all of the mothers at the base. The youngest sparkling they had was Wheelie and even he was a few thousand years old; Clocker, while clearly almost as old as Ironhide and Side Swipe, acted like a youngling. Whether it was because sparklings matured slower on Speed Planet or not was beyond Red Alert's current understanding.

He glanced up as he caught sight of Clocker and Hot Shot standing at the entrance to the racetrack. Clocker was staring up at Hot Shot as he gawked at the enormous loop track. Red Alert could see that he was impressed with what he saw, but the comment that he was going to say died as he caught sight of Ransack and Crumplezone. They were talking to another femme who had her back to them and Red Alert immediately assumed that this was Override.

They watched the three Velocitronians transform and line up beside each other, revving their engines. Hot Shot quickly transformed and raced over, shouting to ask if he could join in. Override snorted before telling him he could if he felt like losing. As cocky as ever, Hot Shot replied that they'd have to see about that.

Red Alert barely had time to get to the track before the four racers were off. He had to admit that the three natives were incredibly fast and Hot Shot was really giving it his all just to keep up. Ransack was shouting something incomprehensible as she passed her friend and tried to close the gap between herself and Override. The red and white racer did not seem to be trying at all, if the almost waving she was doing across the track was any indication.

Ransack was starting to gain on Override when her front tire suddenly let out an unnatural noise and she started rolling. Hot Shot flew past her without stopping to help as she rolled into the center of the loop and lay still. Crumplezone transformed and rushed down to her, shouting her name in panic. Red Alert darted forward as quickly as he could, hoping he would not get pegged by Override or Hot Shot on the way around again. He slipped into the center and knelt down beside the injured femme, resting a hand on her seat.

"Were you injured from the roll?" he asked.

"No...no, that didn't hurt," she whimpered softly. "I'll just, ow, have bruises."

"That's better than dings," he cooed soothingly. "Now, do you know what happened with your wheel?"

"I...I think a support strut broke," she replied. "Ow, can't transform either."

"That's probably a good thing; I can work on this better while you're in your alt mode," he reassured her before setting to work scanning the area.

Ransack was silent as he worked while Crumplezone kept patting her seat and letting out small whimpers that everything was going to be alright. Red Alert could feel that he was actually keeping her relaxed even with his obviously nervousness. Ransack had been correct in her assumption that the support strut had been the thing that broke. It was snapped in half and was letting her wheel dangle away from the body of her alt mode. It would not take him long to fix; a simple weld line would hold the two broken shafts together until her internal repair system fused them together properly. If he had the proper supplies, he could replace the part to ensure that it would be alright, but he had no such equipment with him.

He welded the two shafts together and nodded. "Alright, how's that?"

Ransack shifted a little before sighing. "Really stiff, doc-bot," she replied.

"Are there any good mechanics around here?" he asked.

"If anything, we're supposed to do repairs ourselves," Ransack replied before transforming and looking at him with downcast green optics. "I don't even know if anyone can replace a support strut."

"I'm sure you can find someone, Ransack," Red Alert stated gently. "You internal systems will repair whatever I could not get at so it should hold until you can find a replacement part."

Ransack nodded in understanding before she bowed her head. "I owe you one," she murmured. "You didn't have to help me...not after what I did to you and your friend."

Red Alert smiled. "It's alright; I don't hold grudges when others need help," he replied. "If you have any other problems, just get in touch with me."

Ransack nodded before she stood up, poking Crumplezone until he stood beside her. She thanked him again before transforming and leaving, her speed nowhere near as fast as usual. Clocker and Breakdown walked over to tell him that Override had won the race while he had been repairing Ransack. Hot Shot was talking with the femme and doing a poor job of explaining the situation to her. He sighed before heading to where the yellow mech was standing in front of Override. He could tell just from the rapid arm movements that he was getting nowhere with the other femme.

"Problem, Hot Shot?" he asked as he walked up.

"Look," Override told him as she turned to look at him, "I really don't care what excuse you two give me. Beat me in a race then we'll talk."

Red Alert sighed. "Considering that you are the leader of this planet, that is not going to happen, is it?" he asked.

Override looked at him before snorting and turning away. She transformed and left, not even bothering with a response. Hot Shot groaned that he had messed up big time and that they were even further away from finding the key.

"Well, we did learn one thing," Red Alert stated before turning away.

"What?"

"That you have a crush on Override," Red Alert replied with an evil smirk.

Hot Shot's optics widened in horror before he shouted that he had no such thing. Clocker and Breakdown laughed as Hot Shot stumbled over his words and tried to tell them that there was no attraction between himself and Override. Red Alert had a feeling that Optimus was going to enjoy this bit of news immensely.

**Author's note:** Bah, no inspiration to write this chapter whatsoever . Sorry for the shortness and crappiness of it.


	5. Story Time

Chapter 5 Story Time

Oriona watched Megatron curiously from the corner of her optics. He had been acting funny as of late and she could not quite figure out what the problem was. If she asked, he pretended that he had not heard her and if she demanded an answer, he looked at her like she had grown an extra head. Everyone else noticed a difference in his demeanour as well and were starting to react to it.

Of them all, Vector Prime was the most suspicious. But even his attempts were proving to be useless and wasted. Megatron evaded all their questions with such aloofness that she wondered if he even realized that they were suspicious. Vector Prime tried to make her see how important it was that he did not evade questioning. She already knew why it was important and him repeatedly telling her was only making her agitated and annoyed.

Presently, Megatron was sound asleep with his head on her chest. She ran her fingers over his helm soothingly, her tormented processor not allowing such insignificant operations like recharge get in the way of figuring this problem out. She sighed before resting her cheek on his helm and hugging his shoulders.

"Why won't you just tell me what is wrong?" she whispered.

She felt him stir against her and her spark rose for a second. But then he resettled himself on the berth and drifted back into peaceful recharge. She sighed angrily before trying to settle down herself. This was starting to get annoying and what was worse was that he blocked the slagging bond. She couldn't even check to see how he was feeling but he sure knew everything going on in her life.

She settled down on the berth and was just starting to drift off when she felt Megatron's hand brush her cheek. She resisted the urge to online her optics and instead waited to see what he would do. His hand brushed down her shoulder before his mouth placed a gentle kiss on her cheek.

"Everything will make sense soon," he promised. "You'll see."

She was tempted to ask what he meant, but she remained silent in order to listen more. He obviously thought that she was recharging for he never spoke of his recent oddness when she was online. She let out a small sigh, like she was experiencing a good dream and snuggled closer to his chest. His hand trailed over her back before he rested his forehead on hers. His breathing deepened and she quickly followed him into recharge.

She woke much later to Megatron's groan of annoyance and a loud squealing sparkling sitting on her chest. She blinked at the black sparkling before smiling and petting its head. It twittered happily and snuggled against her, almost completely ignoring Megatron in the process. Megatron glared at it before yawning widely.

"Hey, 'Cade," Oriona cooed before stroking the little sparkling's helm. "Does your momma know you're in here?"

The little sparkling cooed happily before reaching out to touch her face. She heard a soft chuckle and sat up to look at Jazz as he leant against the wall. He waved in greeting before walking over to pick his sparkling up off of her chest. She sat up and smirked at the little one, gently scratching his little doorwings as he wiggled in delight. He clapped his hands and laughed happily before clicking in a demand to be held.

"Missed his nap?" Oriona asked as she gently picked up the sparkling.

"Nah," Jazz chuckled. "He just woke up. He wanted to see his auntie."

"Aw, how sweet," Oriona cooed before nuzzling the sparkling's tummy. "How's my little 'Cade?"

Barricade clapped his hands again before finally spotting Megatron as he sat up. He let out a low chirp before holding his hands out towards the massive mech. Megatron glanced at him before smirking and holding a hand out for him. He had already gotten chewed out by Prowl for holding her sparkling wrong and his pride refused to let it happen again as Oriona handed their "nephew" over. He held the sparkling in the crook of his arm, tightly against his chest, and rocked him back and forth to get him to go back into recharge.

Jazz commented on Megatron's natural daddying skills with a wide smirk. Megatron gave the other mech a bored look before replying that he had helped raise Inferno and Cyclonus when they were younger. He then glared at Oriona and told her not to say a word and that Cyclonus was protoformed half-crazy. She grinned and, unable to stop herself, replied that he finished making him crazy. She ducked just in time to avoid getting smacked.

She laughed as she stood up, making room for Megatron to rise as Barricade clapped his hands. She knew she would get it later but for now it was worth it. Jazz took his son and bounced him on his hip as he told them that Vector Prime wanted them all in the Command Center so that he could tell them all a little history about the Cyber Planet Keys. Both leaders looked at each other before following the saboteur into the Command center.

Vector Prime was sitting at one of the consoles and facing the door. He looked rather relaxed and was listening to Wheelie as the youngling rhymed out a question. He replied gently, almost as if he feared knocking the little orange mech over with his voice alone. Wheelie clapped his hands in delight at the reply and quickly raced over to Arcee to tell her what he had just learnt. Oriona smiled as Vector Prime noticed her and signalled for them to have a seat.

"Now, I have much to tell you about the Cyber Planet Keys," Vector Prime stated. "The story is long, but I have a feeling that you will appreciate it later." He cleared his throat once before nodding.

"In the beginning, Primus created the original thirteen, my siblings. From the separate regions of Cybertron we rose to do his bidding. We all varied in knowledge and age, but we were all connected to one another. We called each other siblings even though we were not and treated each other with the fairness and love that any sibling showed. Willingly or not.

"The oldest amongst us was Prima who rose from the heart of Iacon and was my closest sibling. I, myself, rose from Vos, the city of the Seekers, and loved her with all my spark."

"Wait, Prima's a femme?" Oriona asked in surprise. "But, that would mean that..."

"There was a femme Prime before you, yes," Vector Prime replied with a soft smile. "But she never officially took the mantle from her younger brother and preferred to let them rule while she worked her way through the sparks of the much younger and more difficult population. As I was saying, however, the youngest of us rose from Kaon.

"His name has long since been forgotten, but he has earned a new one in that time; The Fallen. Before he fell from favour, Fallen was a soldier and he was very close to Prima. If it had not been for a law imposed by the current Prime, they probably would have ended up mates. But, none the less, they grew close enough to know each other better than they knew themselves and helped each other every chance they got.

"You see, Prima and Fallen had special powers that Primus gave them for being the youngest and the oldest of his thirteen children. Fallen's powers were brutal and devastating and took much concentration and skill to master. He took his powers very seriously, as he did everything else, and honed his abilities until he became the most lethal and deadly mech in the universe. Prima's powers, however, are more a mystery. I'm positive that not even she understood the extent of her abilities, but she and Fallen worked hard to gain some form of mastery over them.

"Now, you know very well that Unicron managed to convince The Fallen to join him. How he did it, however, was through trickery and using his emotions against him. On the day he betrayed us, the current Prime found out about his and Prima's relationship and forbid them from seeing each other. Prima protested and claimed that they were not mates, no matter what he thought. In actuality, the Prime was jealous of his siblings' love for each other and wanted Prima for himself. In a fit of rage, Fallen attacked the Prime and the rest of us had no choice but to drive him from our home.

"Prima begged us not to make him stay away forever, but the Prime refused to listen to her. He snarled that he was not worthy of being Primus' chosen thirteen and she did something that stunned us all to our sparks. She slapped the Prime so hard across the face that he was thrown into the wall. She screamed that he had no idea what he was like because he was too busy making Cybertronians' lives miserable. She stormed off to try to find her lover, but by then Unicron had already found him and fooled him.

"He promised that if The Fallen helped him conquer Cybertron that he would receive Prima and keep her as his mate. His judgement was clouded with rage and he agreed without thinking that Unicron had lied and was planning on keeping his brother's 'daughter' as his own. For, you see, with Prima's body and her abilities infused into his own already powerful spark, Unicron would be invincible. Primus alerted his children immediately to the danger and the betrayal of their 'brother'.

"Prima, distraught by The Fallen's betrayal, refused to leave her quarters even as a war raged around her. Her spark was broken and she just could not face him on the battlefield. Primus, for all his powers, refused to force his beloved 'daughter' to do anything that she was not willing to. However, Fallen did something that pulled her from her quarters and into the battle in a bellow of fury and immense power; he attacked Iacon and destroyed the city.

"The fight between them was brief and violent. The Fallen, engulfed in flames, smashed into her and she ignited and ended up destroying more of the ruined city. But The Fallen was heavily injured and he fled back to Unicron. Prima was not unscathed either, but we healed her as best as we could and she recovered. By then, the war with Unicron was over as Primus sent him hurtling into the vastness of space."

"What about The Fallen?" Prowl asked.

"He was trapped within Unicron and held prisoner there," Vector Prime replied. "At least, to the best of my knowledge, that is what happened."

"Poor guy," Oriona murmured. "He was tricked and it wasn't fair what happened to him."

Vector Prime looked at her in surprise before blinking. "You are far too kind," he stated. "Whether or not he was tricked, my brother did horrendous things in the name of Unicron."

Oriona frowned and looked at Megatron. "I have seen many things done in the name of war, Vector Prime," she stated. "None of them have been nice."

The old Prime stared at her before clearing his voice and continuing on. "Now, shortly after the war ended, the inhabitants of Cybertron felt the urge to explore the cosmos. All of us, the original thirteen, minus The Fallen, sent four ships out into the cosmos to satisfy their need to travel. Primus assisted us in crafting the four Cyber Planet Keys for the ships to carry as a means to help them start populating any planet they landed on. Shortly after they set off, we lost contact with them and the Keys remained lost. Until now of course."

Oriona nodded before smirking. "Looks like we had quite a task on our hands, tracking down these Keys," she commented.

"Indeed," Vector Prime replied, glancing at Megatron mistrustfully, "for they are the only way to destroy the threat that is looming over us."

"What're we waitin' for then?" Jazz asked before laughing. "We need to get crackin' to find the next location of the Cyber Planet Key!"

"Has Red Alert called in yet?" Oriona asked.

"No," Quickstart sighed. "We can't get a transmission in or out to him. Gettin' real annoying."

Oriona frowned before telling them to try to get in contact with him and see what his progress was. She was worried now that she knew they were having technical trouble with their warriors around the galaxy. She wanted the problem fixed before she sent anyone else out in search of the Cyber Planet Keys. She would not risk losing more soldiers to a war again.

**Author's note:** GAH! MY BRAIN IS EXPLODING! Honestly, I've been having so many blocks for this story it's not even funny. I know what I want to happen, I even know how I want it to go about. The problem is sitting down and writing it out in a way that leads up to the good stuff. It just isn't coming T-T So, I'm sorry beforehand for the insanely long waits that you are experiencing just to get one little chapter done.


	6. To Jungle Planet

Chapter 6 To Jungle Planet

Oriona peered curiously at the rock-face in front of her and could just make out the Cybertronian symbols etched into the surface. She was still amazed at the fact that their previous visits to Earth had failed to unearth such amazing discoveries. To think that Earth's history tied into their own even before the Minicons' ship crashed was astounding.

She brushed her fingers along the edges, only half-listening to Vector Prime as he rambled on and on. He was just as excited as the rest of them were for finding the rock in the middle of the desert. Landmine and Scavenger were finishing the excavation of the other end of the rock and everyone else was farther back to avoid getting hit with rocks or get buried under sand.

"Finished!" Landmine called before he transformed and rubbed his back.

"Excellent," Vector Prime chimed before walking forward. "Yes, this is the coordinates we need to find the next Cyber Planet Key." He looked at Scattershot and nodded in approval. "Well done in discovering this artefact, young one."

Scattershot blushed and quickly dropped his head and kicked the dirt. Starscream patted his shoulder approvingly before he turned to Vector Prime and asked what the tablet said. The ancient Prime merely shook his head and replied that it was written in a dialect that followed his time and he could not read it. Quickstart sighed before snapping about the universe not wanting them to read all of a sudden. Oriona smirked in agreement before she stood up and placed her hands on her hips, looking around at the surrounding troops.

She had to choose carefully who she was going to send to this planet. From what Vector Prime had told her, the next planet was wilder and more savage than any other planet they had ever been on. For that, she wanted a soldier that was both able to talk diplomatically and fight. Immediately she thought of Demolisher and quickly glanced at him. He would follow any order she gave, hopefully, and could stand his own if push came to shove. He would be a good leader for the team to go.

She then thought of Hound. He was resourceful and easily adaptable. He was also itching for a chance to study lifeforms on a different planet. Giving him something to do for a change would make him feel better for the lack of exploration he could do considering they were all supposed to be lying low. An expedition to another planet was just what he needed to relax a little. He would be a good mech to balance Demolisher out.

Then, she thought of Overhaul. She was hard to get along with for most mechs, but she was a powerful soldier. She had a lot of troubles following orders when she did not think the orders were good for the situation and she tended to get into a lot of fights. But, if the world was as savage as Vector Prime assumed, there was no one else she would want to send to make sure the team was as defended as possible.

"Alright, when we open the space bridge I want Demolisher, Hound, and Overhaul to go through," she ordered.

"Yes ma'am!" they said together, saluting and clicking their heels.

She ignored the glare from Jetfire as she nodded to Vector Prime. Megatron, who had been hanging near the back of the group talking with Starscream, stepped up beside her and took her hand gently. As Vector Prime slashed a space in the fabric of the world, she and Megatron synchronized their sparks and minds, focusing on the Matrix within them. She felt the power rush through her and concentrated on the coordinates to the new planet.

She onlined her optics and looked at the warp gate now waiting for the soldiers to go through. She nodded to them as Demolisher led them up to it. He nodded and saluted before walking through, quickly followed by Hound after he kissed Mirage farewell, and finally a rather annoyed looking Overhaul. The gate closed behind them and Oriona silently wished them the best of luck.

"Well, this is lovely," Overhaul grumbled as she tromped after the other two mechs. "Miles and miles of bloody jungle."

"We'll reach a clearing soon," Hound called from the head of the group. "Come on, Overhaul; we don't want to get separated."

"Are you suggesting I'm slow?" she demanded.

"I'm suggesting you're at the back," he replied with a kind smile.

She glared at him but found it hard to stay angry with him. Hound was one of the easier mechs to get along with, if only because he was generally very polite. She didn't mind him as much as she did Demolisher, the useless mech. She sped up a little to stand beside Demolisher and shivered as a large creeper dragged over her shoulder.

They walked along for a while, barely talking except to warn each other of uneven footing. Hound seemed to be losing his confidence the longer they stayed in the jungle. He kept muttering about a clearing before he suddenly pulled up short and threw his arm out to stop Overhaul.

"Don't move a cable," he hissed, pulling his gun out slowly.

She looked around him and blinked at the massive mechanical rhino staring them down. She gulped nervously before pulling her own gun out. Now, as a general rule, nothing really scared her, ever. But to see a rhino that was probably bigger than her, stronger than her, and probably had a worse temper standing in front of her really made her nervous. And trigger happy; did she mention she had a twitchy trigger-finger?

The rhino looked at them for a long time, almost as if it was studying them. Then, it stood up and transformed. Overhaul gawked at the rather short and stocky mech smiling at them. Hound relaxed and shouldered his gun, waving his hand at Demolisher to calm down. The green mech in question looked ready to start firing at anything that twitched.

"You three look a little lost," the rhino-mech commented gently. "Would you like to rest for a little while? My home is not far from here."

Hound immediately looked at Demolisher, who had unanimously been deemed the team leader. The ex-Decepticon's optics narrowed for a moment before he nodded.

"A place to rest would be nice, thank you," he replied before glancing around. "I don't suppose you know where we are?"

"A native of the Jungle Planet would know where we are," the rhino replied with a gentle chuckle. "I am Backstop. I have a feeling that you three will be needing my help."

"Most likely," Hound replied with a laugh. "My name's Hound. This is our temporary commander, Demolisher, and the femme here is Overhaul."

"Pleasure to meet you all," Backstop smiled before beckoning them to follow. "It's not far now."

He turned and led them through the jungle. Hound sped up to walk beside Backstop, asking him about the flora that inhabited the world. Demolisher looked a little sceptical of the strange mech and muttered quietly for them to be cautious. Overhaul rolled her optics and hissed at him that he was an over-cautious idiot.

The walk did not take long and before long they were inside a large, spacious cave. Backstop vanished into the back to retrieve energon cubes and invited them to sit down. Overhaul sat on a large boulder and made herself as comfortable as she could. Hound was still studying the area, letting out soft murmurs of amazement with every discovery that he made. She rolled her optics again and watched him in mild amusement; he got off on some really weird things.

Backstop returned and handed them each a cube of energon. He sat down across from Demolisher and sipped his own energon quietly. He let them have a few minutes to recuperate from their journey. Then he asked his questions.

"Where are you from?" he asked.

"Cybertron," Hound replied. "The home plant of all Cybertronians."

Backstop "hmmed" for a moment before he set his cube aside. "I think you should know something about this planet," he stated. "We are savage and often unrelenting in our attacks. War and battle fuels all of our planet's decisions. Our current leader is a tyrant by the name of Scourge. He delights in battles and carnage." His optics grew sad before he sighed. "If you need anything from this planet, as I am sure that you do, you will need to talk to him. And I fear that he will not listen."

"Well, we gotta try," Overhaul snorted. "If this jerk won't listen willingly, I'll make him listen!"

Backstop turned to look at her and smiled. "A brave proposition," he stated. "But you cannot defeat Scourge."

"Why, because I'm a femme?" she demanded.

"No, because he is too powerful," Backstop replied gently. "I can sense that you are a powerful warrior, young Overhaul, but you could not defeat Scourge even with all of your might. He is too strong."

Overhaul fell silent and stared into her empty energon cube. She felt bad for snapping on the mech after he had helped them, but she hated being considered weak just because she was a femme. Hound and Demolisher took over asking questions about the planet and its ruler and the Cyber Planet Key. She remained silent and tried to think of some way to get this Scourge mech to listen.

She looked up at the sound of approaching footsteps and rose to her feet. Backstop glanced at the entrance to the cave and smiled. He motioned for her to sit back down and explained that it was one of his old pupils. She sat back down as a huge blue wolf leapt over the rock that sat in front of the cave and landed inside.

The two of them locked optics before the wolf growled and transformed. She felt her breath catch in her throat and immediately looked away. He was _handsome_, in a rugged way. He looked very canine-like, right from his muzzled face to his wolf-paw feet. He looked like a warrior and she felt nervous in his presence, something she never felt to any mech before.

"This is Snarl," Backstop introduced, motioning for him to come forward. "He is my spy in Scourge's fortress."

"Hello," he growled, his voice matching almost perfectly with his name. "I'm sure you are all looking for the same Cyber Planet Key as your friend."

"Friend?" Hound asked, tilting his head.

"Megatron and Starscream," Snarl growled, snorting. "They were just at the temple talking with Scourge."

Overhaul felt her fuel tank freeze in horror as she looked at Demolisher. He was rigid in his seat, his optics wide in surprise. Hound was the first one to recover and shook his head in denial.

"He shouldn't be here," he replied. "He can't."

She looked at Demolisher again and knew right away that something bad was going to happen.

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Ransack sighed as she pulled her one knew up to her chest so that she could rest her head on it. She really hated being alone, but it wasn't like Crumplezone had much of a choice either. The poor guy got dragged off to do something by that idiot Dirtboss and now she was all alone.

She sighed again and stared off the bridge she had nestled herself on. The sun was setting far off to the east and it was casting a long shadow behind her. She wished her friend was there to keep her company. She missed the big guy, if only because he kept trying to be funny lately and just wound up doing something stupid that just made her laugh anyways. She pouted for a moment before she heard someone approaching behind her.

"You alright?" It was Red Alert.

"Peachy," she replied before looking back at the sun. "Just peachy."

She was a little worried when he sat down beside her but relaxed after he rested a hand on her shoulder. She liked Red Alert, if only because he treated her nicely and not like she was a weirdo. He sat beside her for a long time, the two of them just watching the sunset, when her com-link went off. She reached up to answer it, turning away from Red Alert to have a bit more privacy.

It was Crumplezone and he told her to head to the meeting point because the boss wanted to see them. She replied that she'd be there soon and hung up. She looked at Red Alert and thanked him for the company before she hopped back onto the road. She sped away quickly, knowing that Megatron did not like to be kept waiting.

She could hear other racers shouting at her, but she sped by without looking back. Half of them probably didn't even realize she was in a hurry or were too stupid to recognize her. She could hear someone hooting at her and she gunned her engine to go faster. The last thing she needed was a mech to start hitting on her; stupid idiots.

She took a side road to cut time and screeched to a halt in front of her boss. "Evening sir!" she chimed as she transformed and planted her hands on her hips. "Lovely time, don't you think?"

He smirked at her, obviously amused by her bright attitude. He had treated her differently the moment he had found out she was a femme. Her task was no different, but when he spoke to her his tone was softer and his optics seemed a little warmer than normal. He nodded to the Seeker beside him and introduced him as Starscream.

Starscream gave her a critical look as Crumplezone appeared behind her and hugged her tightly. She gagged and wiggled, telling him that he was crushing her spinal unit. They wound up wrestling on the ground, laughing and hollering in spite of the two adults watching them. She didn't hear the two mechs talking quietly to each other, or the insulted look that crossed Starscream's face.

All that mattered to her at the moment was spending some quality time with her best friend in the whole wide universe.

**Author's note:** Gah! Long space of time is long! I'm sorry everyone, I just have not been having that much enthusiasm to write for this story. I'll get it done and over with before the end of the year (hopefully) and move onto the next batch of stories. Never again am I writing a trilogy or beyond for ANY of the stories on here T-T


	7. Fights

Chapter 7 Fights

Overhaul glared at the back of Scourge's head. The egomaniac was ignoring them as Hound tried to get him to listen to reason. It was as if their words meant nothing to him. Slag, he had listened to Megatron but he refused to listen to them, even when Demolisher told him that he was one of Megatron's personal soldiers. He wanted to drive her fist into the stupid dragon's head, just to see if his CPU functioned afterwards.

"Don't you get it?" she demanded, growling loudly to get Scourge's attention. "This black hole is threatening everyone! We need that Key to save the whole Universe!"

"Such trivial matters mean nothing to me," Scourge replied, his voice striking a cord in her spark; now she really wanted to kill him. "The strong survive, as it should be."

"The strong will get their afts kicked regardless," she spat. "How about you pull your head out of yours and just listen to us?"

"I only talk to those that defeat me in battle," Scourge replied.

She was a little surprised when he stopped in his tracks and turned to face them. His green optics flashed dangerously at them, almost as if he was calling them cowards without words. Her hatred pricked at the threat and she bared her dental bands in anger. Backstop placed a hand on her shoulder, almost as if he was trying to calm her down.

Demolisher, however, was glaring at her. "You think you could take him out?" he asked.

"Pit yeah," she grunted.

"Fine," Demolisher snorted before turning to face Scourge. "Kick his aft."

Scourge snorted as he pulled out his massive battle axe and settled it on his shoulder. He sneered at her, calling her weak with his stance alone. She snarled at him and lunged.

She managed to catch him around the waist and they stumbled backwards a few paces. She punched his stomach as hard as she could, hearing the mech above her grunt from the impact. She smirked to herself and pulled a fist back to punch him again. She cried out as the battle axe sliced into the armor on her back and energon spurt out between her shoulders.

She heard the two mechs working with her cry out in alarm. Hound was shouting at him that using the battle axe was cheating. Demolisher was snarling at her to ignore the damage and to keep going. She growled and tried to shove the tyrant over. She felt the blade of the axe tear into her back as he brought it down again and again. Unable to stand it, she shoved herself away and collapsed to the ground.

She grit her dental bands in agony and glanced at Scourge over her shoulder. He was staring at her with an unknown emotion flickering in his optics. He snorted as he turned away, signalling to the three mechs that followed him to keep moving.

"Keep training, sparkling," Scourge sneered. "Maybe after you grow up a bit you will be able to do something other than bore me."

Overhaul snarled at his back before she tried to rise. "I'll kill you, do you hear me?" she hissed. "I'll kill you!"

Demolisher's arm wrapped around her shoulders and he pulled her up against his chest. She could feel Backstop working to seal off the wounds on her back and she wanted to break down and cry. Demolisher's arms tightened around her before she felt his mouth gently kiss her forehead.

"I hate him," she whispered, her optics swimming with tears.

"I know," he murmured as he held her close.

She wanted to scream at him, to claim that he didn't know anything. But her spark reached out over a bond that had not been touched in eons and his spark responded with gentleness and affection. She snuggled against him and let out a weak whimper as she curled into that reassuring embrace. Demolisher stroked her helm and murmured that she could rest, an option she took quite happily. She settled her head on his shoulder and dropped into recharge.

ASDFGHJKL;'ASDFGHJKL;'ASDFGHJKL;'

Scourge sat on his throne and thought about his encounter with the off-worlders. The mech that had been yapping about them helping saving the Universe was a weakly. He could smell the tree-hugging idiots a mile away and there was no way that fool could ever gain his respect. He could go take his whining and jump off a cliff.

The other green mech looked like a walking war-machine. He claimed that he was one of Megatron's personal soldiers, but there was something wrong about it. Why would he be with the others and not with Megatron and Starscream? It just did not add up and made him a little anxious about the powerful mech that had come to request his Cyber Planet Key.

And, finally, his thoughts settled on the femme. The startlingly powerful femme that had almost overpowered him within the first few seconds of the fight. She was young and so full of fighting spirit. So few mechs were born with that these days. And she was so full of venom she had actually dared to make a threat on his life.

He ran his hand over the arm of his throne, picturing her infuriated optics. His fuel tank twisted in his torso and he grimaced in annoyance. He rose to his feet, ignoring Snarl's curious look.

"I'm stepping out," he grunted as he walked away.

He exited the temple and walked calmly down the stairs. He would control his feelings as disciplined as any other thing in his life. He transformed the moment he reached the forest floor and took off running. It felt good to stretch his limbs again, but he knew that he had other things to deal with. Those off-worlders were staying with Backstop, which meant that he was keeping them in his cave.

He stopped near the entrance of the cave and sniffed around, looking for the femme's scent. It led away from the cave; perfect; and down towards an old training area. He followed the familiar trail, careful not to brush against any of the foliage so that Backstop would not be able to follow him later. He moved silently through the darkness and paused at the end of the trail.

He could hear someone grunting in exertion. He carefully stepped off of the trail and into the jungle, his optics on the figure moving around the clearing. The femme was fighting, shadow-boxing, and he could see the injuries glistening on her back. Backstop did not have the resources at hand to fix her properly and she was going to be in a lot of pain because of it.

He watched her as she moved, noting each and every trip in her step. The injuries were slowing her down and making her movements laboured. He tilted his head curiously and wondered if he should dare to step out and confront her. To get rid of that threat before it became worse would make his fuel tank settle, that was for sure. He started to take a step forward, but froze as another mech emerged into the clearing.

"Overhaul, what are you doing?" the mech grunted. "You should be resting."

"I rested enough," the femme snorted.

"Overhaul," the mech sighed. "I know you want to beat him, but you can't until you are healed."

The femme glared at him and balled her fists. "I have to train, that's the only way to beat that slagger!" she snapped.

"I know, but you are still injured," the mech replied as he stopped in front of the shorter femme. "Please do not make me haul your aft back to the cave."

The femme glared at him before grumbling and crossing her arms in a huff. She agreed to walk back and the mech wrapped his arm around her shoulder comfortingly. Scourge tilted his head to the side, curious about how those two were connected. He could see the bond between them hanging in the air, but he wasn't sure what kind of bond it was. When they were gone back up the trail, he stepped out and sniffed the air. The femme's scent would stay in his nose for a long time now.

Good, it will be that much easier to find her later on.

ASDFGHJKL;'ASDFGHJKL;'ASDFGHJKL;'

"You can't be serious?" Hound demanded. "Overhaul, be reasonable! He kicked your aft just three days ago!"

She glared at him and growled. "So?"

"You are still injured, young one," Backstop sighed. "Scourge will use that against you."

"I don't care!" she spat. "I want him dead! Maybe then we'll get something done."

Demolisher rose to grab her, but she had already turned to storm away. She was gone within the next minute, leaving all three mechs to shout after her. She sped down the bumpy road towards the temple. Snarl had shown her the way there, not that he had ever taken her close enough to be seen by the look-outs. She was going to kill Scourge if it was the last thing she ever did.

When she reached the temple, she saw her first obstacle; the stairs. She grumbled as she started climbing; she hated stairs like these with a passion. At least they were at the right height that she didn't have to watch where she was putting her feet. Stupid, bloody stairs. It took a while to climb them, enough time for Scourge to be alerted and waiting for her at the top.

"So, you have come to challenge me again, Outsider?" Scourge growled as she stood before him.

"Yah, and this time, I won't lose," she growled.

Scourge laughed at her before he widened his stance, roaring at her viciously. She snorted and charged, bringing her shoulder down low to ram him in the chest. They clashed head on, one clawing at the other in an attempt to get the upper hand. She felt his claws rake her back, but she started landing blow after blow to his abdomen, earning pained grunts. She started digging her shoulder into Scourge's chest, looking for leeway, and felt his hand curl around her shoulders.

With a loud grunt, he sent her sailing across the temple entrance, crashing into one of the pillars. She cried out as her back hit it painfully. She fell heavily onto her front, groaning in pain, and she heard Scourge and his cronies laughing at her. She grit her dental bands together painfully and hauled herself to her feet, wavering a little, but facing Scourge with malice in her optics. She snarled at him and charged again.

Scourge's two extra dragon heads reared up and she knew she was in trouble. Fire erupted out of the two mouths and engulfed her. She hit the ground with a cry out shock, rolling around desperately to put the flames out. She could hear Scourge laughing at her as the flames continued to surround her and she felt helpless to defend herself. She withered and screamed where she lay, her internal functions screaming warnings of overheating or damage. She was certain she was going to go offline.

There was a bellow of rage and, suddenly, the flames were gone. She felt someone throw themselves on top of her to smother the flames. Hound's voice rang over to her to hang on and fight against the Matrix. He thought she was going to die too. She blinked blearily up at him and coughed up a little energon, snuggling closer to him as she heard someone getting the slag beaten out of them.

She glanced over and gawked at the sight of Demolisher pinning Scourge down by the throat while he wailed on him. Scourge was fighting back, but he could not get a grip on Demolisher as the large green mech screeched with fury.

"You ever lay a hand on her again, I'll rip both of those Primus forsaken heads off and shove them up your aft!" Demolisher roared.

Scourge gagged before Snarl appeared out of nowhere and hauled Demolisher off. The massive mech snarled at the two natives and turned to face both Overhaul and Hound. He walked over and ran his hand gently over her helm, his optics filled with fear and worry. She smiled weakly and whispered that she was okay, earning a snort.

He picked her up out of Hound's arms and cradled her to his chest. She smirked and mumbled that he was going soft. He grunted in agreement before he turned and headed down the temple steps, not even giving Scourge a parting glance. The journey back to Backstop's cave was quiet. She took the time to rest and let her body try to repair itself.

"I'll beat him next time," she whispered.

"Never again," he growled softly. "Don't you even think about it."

"But," she tried to argue.

"We can't have you going offline to settle this, Overhaul," he sighed. "We need all of us online if we ever want that Key. We will find another way."

"There is no other way," she snapped.

"There is always another way," he stated softly as he walked into Backstop's cave and set her down. "Mostly burns; you called it like a playbook."

Backstop sighed softly and set to work healing her up. She remained silent as Hound and Demolisher talked in low voices. Backstop's hand drifted gently over her head and she glanced at him.

"You are determined," he whispered as he worked. "But that will not be enough. Scourge is strong, my dear, and you are not yet strong enough to defeat him."

She shook her head angrily. "I have to, it's the only way, no matter what that dimwit says," she replied.

"I know," he murmured. "I will have Snarl take you somewhere you can learn to be resistant to fire attacks. For now, rest."

She grumbled slightly, but complied. Her dreams were filled with Scourge setting her on fire and laughing. But right at the end, his green optics filled with sadness and he would look away. His whole frame seemed to slump and he murmured something that she could not understand. She awoke to Demolisher lying beside her, his head pillowed on his arm, and his breathing deep. She smiled and snuggled against him, murmuring that she wished he'd lighten up. He smacked her, even in recharge.

**Author's note:** Can anyone figure out what's up with Overhaul and Demolisher? Cookie to whoever gets it.


	8. Lion Sparks

Chapter 8 Lion Sparks

Hot Shot watched as Crumplezone and Ransack trained on the track. He had to admit that they were extremely fast, maybe fast enough to leave him in the dust. He was worried; he had to win that cup, everything was riding on him winning. Red Alert was trying to find an alternate means to acquire the Planet Key, but Clocker insisted it was the only way to get what they wanted.

He had been running himself ragged trying to get ready for the races. His whole body ached from the exertion and he was always on the brink of collapsing. He refused to let Red Alert check him over; he would force him to drop out of the race. He just could not risk it; he had to get that Key.

"Yo, hotstuff!" Ransack called as she took the turn on the race-track and transformed, waving a hand over her head. "You joining or sulking?"

"Just watching," he called back.

Ransack pursed her lips to the side and called to her partner that she'd be right back. Hot Shot watched her make her way up towards him, weaving up through the stands. She flopped down beside him and poked his shoulder with a smirk.

"Alright, what's eatin' ya?" she asked.

"Nothing," he replied.

"Liar," she teased and leant back in her seat. "Really, what's bugging you?"

He glanced at her, wondering what had possessed her to come talk to him. "I have a lot riding on this race," he murmured. "I have to win…but I'm afraid that Red Alert will tell me that I can't race."

Ransack tilted her head to the side. Her large green optics flickered a little as she started nodding.

"That is something to worry about," she replied. "But, I wouldn't be too worried about it."

Hot Shot glanced at her again, slightly surprised at her comment. Ransack had always seemed to be the kind of bot that made connections between things that did not go together. She even came across as slightly paranoid, but here she was telling him that everything would be alright. He was tempted to ask if her CPU was functioning properly.

She glanced at him and grinned as she stood up. She put two fingers to her helm in mock salute and charged down the steps of the stands. She reached the wall that separated the stands from the track and leapt off, sailing through the air with grace he would attribute to a Seeker. She transformed in mid-air and landed perfectly, pulling out of a skid in time to race alongside Crumplezone.

He watched them for a few more laps, noting how they seemed to cheer one another on. He smiled to himself as he made his way down to the track and transformed. His brothers would be out there with him if he had made the offer. They would cheer each other on, pushing one another to their limits and beyond. He shouted at the other two to wait up and gunned his engine, making his tires screech against the pavement as he made a beeline for the other two racers.

ASDFGHJKL;'ASDFGHJKL;'ASDFGHJKL;'

Oriona blocked Mirage's attack and grunted as the two of them struggled for dominance. In spite of Mirage's height advantage, they were evenly matched. Oriona was stronger than most mechs her size, but the long term of peace had forced her to divert her attention elsewhere and her almost ingrained reactions to a fight had slacked off.

Megatron insisted that she be ready for battle at any time. Not to mention that showing that she could hold her own might make the soldiers listen to her better. She had a feeling that nothing would help rebuild the bridge to her followers' loyalty. For one reason or another, they did not look to her for guidance anymore.

She locked her arms with Mirage and grunted as they grappled. Mirage was not struggling too much; she did not like the thought of fighting her; but was good enough to put up some form of a challenge. With another grunt, she managed to shove the larger boat-femme over. Pouncing quickly, she used her weight to pin her and stop her from struggling. Mirage's optics widened in surprise, not expecting the attack, and she slumped in defeat against the floor.

"Excellent work," Vector Prime's voice called out as the training room door opened. "You are still a capable fighter."

Oriona smiled as she got up and helped Mirage back to her feet. The other femme seemed a little bitter at the loss, but she was gracious in defeat. She winced a little as Megatron walked into the room, his blue optics gazing lazily at the speedboat. She bowed her head submissively before she excused herself. Megatron barely acknowledged his former soldier as he made his way over to Oriona.

"As flawless as ever," he commented as he wrapped an arm tightly around her waist. "Although, your reaction time has slowed down a bit."

"No time to practice when you're trying to rebuild the world," she replied with a sigh.

Megatron let out a soft grunt as he pulled her closer. His mouth passed over her antenna and he whispered softly. She smiled as she leant on him, listening to the whirling of his internal systems. His hand moved soothingly over her back and she exhaled slowly, enjoying the closeness.

He was so distant lately, more so than before. She found herself going into recharge by herself and waking up late at night when Megatron finally came to berth. He would try to be as quiet as he could, but she always woke up anyways. He'd apologize, but she could not help but feel that he was trying to shoulder a burden bigger than he could handle on his own. He spoke so little as of late and she could already feel the yawning chasm opening up between them.

To just be held now was a blessing. She murmured softly to him, trying to tell him that she loved him, but his armor made the words barely make it past her lips. His arms tightened around her anyways and he easily hoisted her up to be resting against his chest. She wrapped her arms tightly around his neck as he excused them from Vector Prime's presence. She waved lazily over Megatron's shoulder and yawned to herself.

She knew where Megatron was going and was happy that they were going to have some time alone. She looked up as he sat down on their berth, his blue optics soft and reflective. He nuzzled her gently and she purred in response, snuggling closer to hide her face in his chest. His hand trailed over her head and his mouth rested on the top of her head at the same time.

"I miss you," she murmured softly.

"I'm here all the time," he chuckled.

"Not the same," she replied, snuggling closer to him. "You're missing so much and you keep coming to berth late."

"I…have a lot to do lately," he mumbled. "It isn't anything to worry about."

"But I do," she murmured, reaching up to caress his face. "I'm so worried; I don't want to lose you again."

"You won't," he reassured her.

He settled a hand on top of hers and smiled at her. He leant heavily into her touch, purring softly as he turned to nuzzle her palm. She smiled and leant up to kiss him, squeaking in surprise as he growled and moved to bite her playfully. She laughed with him, growling playfully back as they kissed.

She lost track of time. Time became irrelevant to the closeness of her mate's body. She knew that Megatron enjoyed interfacing whenever they had time to themselves; she enjoyed it too; but they also loved just lying beside one another. Cuddling always made the atmosphere much more inviting and warm, not to mention that she felt safe with his enormous arms wrapped around her.

She rested her cheek on the armor over his spark and sighed happily. Her antennas perked at a knock on the door and Megatron growled for the other Cybertronian to enter. Flamewar poked her head in and waved apologetically.

"Sorry," she chimed, "but Hound's on the com and I don't know how long little Shotty can keep the connection intact."

Oriona nodded, patting Megatron's arm as he grumbled. They got up quickly and made their way to the command center, relieved that Hound was still in full view on the screen.

"What's wrong?" Mirage asked as soon as they were close enough to hear. "You don't look like that unless something bad is happening."

"We're having a small problem with the leader of the planet," Hound sighed, rubbing his helm. "Overhaul's taken it upon herself to defeat him; she won't listen to reason."

"Why is she fighting so much?" Oriona demanded.

"That's the way things are run here," Hound replied. "They fight for supremacy and the only way the leader will listen is if we fight and beat him. No one can; he's too powerful."

Frustration was etched into every part of Hound's expression and Oriona felt bad for him. Overhaul was stubborn and hard to get along with. Her redeeming factors were that she was a powerful soldier and extremely loyal , but her personality was enough to grate on anyone's nerves.

"Is she there now?" Megatron asked. "Perhaps we can talk some sense into her."

"No, she took off again," Hound hissed. "Demolisher went to find her, but I have a feeling she's back at the temple. We'll track her down and…hang on…Demolisher just got back…. What's wrong? Oh Primus…! I have to go. Sorry! Mirage, I'll see you soon, baby."

Mirage barely had time to reply before the screen went dark. Oriona looked at Megatron worriedly; Hound's face had been filled with fear. Megatron shook his head and reassured her that everything was going to be alright. She nodded, but her spark was telling her that something bad had happened.

ASDFGHJKL;'ASDFGHJKL;'ASDFGHJKL;'

Overhaul snarled at Scourge, energon bubbling out of her mouth. She could still see the axe in his hand, her energon staining the blade. Snarl was out cold beside her, his laboured breathing filling her audios. Scourge had turned on the wolf-former when he had tried to get his leader to back off when he had knocked her to the ground.

"I have no love for traitors, Snarl," Scourge hissed as he walks over to the wolf and lifted his blade. "Good-bye, old friend."

She had no idea how she managed to drag herself over to Snarl, but she felt the blade bite into her shoulder. She cried out in pain, but forced herself to remain still. She had to protect Snarl; it was her fault for forcing him to take her here again. She felt each blow on her back and felt her spinal unit beginning to snap. She was going to die and they would have nothing to show for her efforts but a broken body.

"All is not lost, little one," a voice whispered in her audio. "Listen to me; hear what I say; feel what I give."

She felt and heard the ringing of another spark in her audios. The noise travelled through her, making her arms tremble. Scourge let out a shout of fear behind her and the pain of the battle axe faded. She onlined her optics and gawked at the glow that was illuminating her armor. The ringing increased and she felt herself be picked up by the scruff and dangled in midair.

A scanning beam blasted out of her chest and she watched it scan a mural on the wall of the temple. She felt her whole body shifting and changing shape and power surged through her. She felt her body go into the transformation sequence and landed on all fours, a deep roar echoing out of her throat.

She turned on Scourge, snarling up at him as he stared at her in shock. She roared against and lunged at him, jaws open to clamp around his throat. He moved at the last moment his own roar that shook the air violently. Unfazed, she spun around and lunged again, claws bursting out from under her fingertips. They tore the armor on Scourge's chest open, earning a bellow of pain from the dragon. She landed on the ground, glaring at the two lackeys that tried to move to Scourge's aid.

"Who's weak now?" she sneered as she stepped over the downed tyrant.

He growled weakly at her, but she ignored him as she licked Snarl awake. She heard him let out a soft whine of distress and she laughed to herself. He would live. She carefully nuzzled him up onto her back, moving her shoulders around to get him to move into a better position, and then turned towards the forest on either side of the temple. Not even hesitating, she charged forward and leaped off the side of the temple.

The wind whistled past her and she blinked her optics to keep the optical fluid from leaking down her face. She hit the ground rather hard, but her body absorbed the shockwaves in a way that left her completely unharmed. She checked briefly to make sure that Snarl was still on her back and charged through the forest. She headed for Backstop's cave, knowing that he would be able to help Snarl.

"Who's there?" a voice demanded before Demolisher stepped out in front of her. "HALT!"

She veered around him to avoid knocking him off of his feet and pulled up short. She turned to face him, smirking to herself at his hostile stance. His gun-ended fingers were turned towards her and his one optic was zoomed in on her face. She tilted her head to the side before lifting a hand up to lick it clean.

"Aw, you aren't happy to see me, Demy?" she asked, watching the look of pure horror crawl over the mech's face.

"No…Overhaul?" he whispered softly as he took a step forward and bent down to touch her. "What…how?"

"I think Backstop can explain it better than I can," she replied as she turned to face the forest. "Come on, slowpoke, keep up!"

She took off at a fast pace, half expecting the other mech to shout at her to wait. She was mildly surprised to find him right behind her, arms pumping with his strides. He looked worried, worse than normal, and she chuckled. He obviously thought she was changed; how silly.

They reached the cave in time to see Hound talking with Oriona. Demolisher got his attention and pointed to her and made a quick motion to cut the feed. Hound's eyes widened in horror as he made a hasty good-bye to Mirage and the rest of the team. He stood up and stared at her as she trotted past to drop Snarl onto a rock for Backstop.

"What happened to you?" he finally managed to wheeze out.

"She has been changed by the Heart of the Jungle Planet," Backstop grunted as he moved past the stunned mechs to start helping Snarl. "It happens to all of the natives when we come of age. The temple holds a sacred item that reformats our bodies to hold animal modes instead of vehicle modes. Overhaul has undergone the same procedure."

She heard someone fall to the ground and looked over. Demolisher was on his knees, staring at her with a look of complete hopelessness. He started shaking his head and she saw tears streak down his face. Her tail hit the ground in shock; Demolisher never cried.

"This is all my fault," he moaned. "I should have protected you more! I should never have let you get it in your head that you are powerful enough to take on anyone!"

"Demolisher," she murmured as she walked over to him and threw her front legs around his shoulders, "Demy, it's still me! I'm alive, I'm whole, and I'm going to be just fine."

He shook his head violently and dragged her close to his chest. She murmured gently to him, licking his cheek reassuringly. His hand travelled over her back and she heard him let out a heavy sob. She glanced at Backstop, hoping he might have some remedy for the mech's pain, but he avoided her gaze.

"It is best that you change your name to something more fitting of a beast," he suggested after a while.

"Leobreaker," Demolisher grunted. "We'll call her Leobreaker from now on."

She smiled at the other mech and rubbed her head under his chin. He wiped a tear away and told her to stop sucking up; she was still in trouble. She laughed and hopped away, daring him to try to catch her. He growled after her as she hopped onto the edge of the cave.

"I'm going to see what I can do," she called. "I'll be back after sundown."

"Don't do anything stupid!" Hound shouted after her.

She laughed at his comment as she leapt easily from one rock to the other. She charged into the forest, marvelling at the pull and tense of each cable in her body. It felt like freedom, charging along the forest floor with the vegetation ripping past her faster and closer than even driving as a vehicle. She bounded up the side of a huge hill and stood panting on a ledge, staring out at the surrounding forest.

She inhaled deeply and sighed happily at the cool air that flooded her. It calmed her and she realized just how much she had been longing for this kind of freedom. She could feel the planet moving beneath her paws and everything seemed to have its own personal energy flow. It was amazing and humbling at the same time. She jumped when she heard someone approach her from behind and snarled at the red dragon now staring out over her head.

"It's beautiful, isn't it?" Scourge asked as he stood beside her.

"Yes," she ground out.

He looked over at her and smirked. She hissed at him as he leant over and dared to rub his muzzle against her neck. She leapt away from him and extended her claws, daring him to try it again. He watched her with amusement in his optics and swung his tail back and forth threateningly.

"Next time we meet," he cooed, "will not be so pleasant. But you have earned my respect, Outsider, remember that."

She watched him walk away, wondering just what he had hoped to gain from the encounter. She growled to herself, quietly cursing the dragon's existence, and turned to look out over the forest. She smiled to herself before tipping her head back and roaring as loudly as she could.


	9. The Omega Lock

Chapter 9 The Omega Lock

"And you're sure that this lock is at the bottom of the Atlantic?"

Oriona looked sceptically at the map that Vector Prime was showing them. She was not keen on diving down into the deepest part of the Atlantic Ocean just to find this holder for the Cyber Planet Keys. She was positive that very few of the others could actually swim. Megatron and anyone born in Vos or Kaon would know how; Seekers could swim as well as they could fly and Kaonites would go out of their way to get into the huge energon river that flowed right by the city. Iaconians like her, however, were not so good at swimming.

"Yes, it is," Vector Prime replied. "It is almost a straight drop down from the Grand Banks in Newfoundland."

"And Labrador," Scattershot grumbled. "It's Newfoundland and Labrador."

"Perfectionist," Flamewar teased as she reached over and tugged on one of his shoulder turrets.

He grumbled more under his aunt's friendly jibe and crossed his arms in a huff. The Seekers immediately started twittering amongst themselves, shoving Starscream playfully. No doubt they were seeing a similarity between the sparkling and his creator. Starscream only looked annoyed at being shoved around by the others, but his optics were filled with a parental love that made Scattershot blush a little.

Oriona chuckled at the sight, making a mental note to get Wingsabre to praise Scattershot more often. They were on their way fairly quickly afterwards, ignoring the Seekers' taunting of them not being able to swim. Megatron was quick to chase them off, telling them to keep their offhand remarks to themselves. They only twittered more amongst themselves, shooting everyone else dark looks that just spelt trouble.

Oriona was grateful for the ground-bridge that allowed them to get to the East coast of Canada so quickly. She stood on a cliff overlooking the ocean and felt her armor tremble with delight. This area was so beautiful and vast, yet so deadly at the same time. She inhaled the scent of the ocean before she realized that the others were shifting around nervously behind her.

"The water won't hurt you," she reassured them before she heard a very loud splash behind her. "Don't tell me; Skywarp just cannonballed in?"

"WATER'S GREAT!"

"Skywarp, do you have to do that?" she sighed as she turned back to face the bobbing Seeker.

He nodded happily before he flipped over and vanished under the dark surface. The other Seekers dropped in after him, letting out various shouts of delight as they hit the water. Jetfire squirmed where he was on the land and refused to jump in like the others had. Even Scavenger was hesitant about jumping in, staring at the water with a great amount of mistrust.

There was a harsh snort before Megatron shoved past the few that had been blocking the edge of the cliff. He glared at him, blue optics narrowed in disdain, and he turned around to face the ocean. There wasn't even a tremor along his back as he jumped off the cliff, although his foot did twitch a bit; the ocean was much deeper and bigger than any river on Cybertron.

Oriona smirked as her mate easily turned the jump into a dive and sliced under the water without a ripple. The human children cheered at the display as Megatron resurfaced. He shook his head a little, sending water droplets in every direction. He turned back towards the cliff, a dirty smirk on his face as he waved at them.

"Come on, you bunch of sparklings," he teased, "the water's great."

Jetfire growled before he jumped out of the way with a loud yelp. Side Swipe and Ironhide barrelled past and leapt off the cliff, wild shouts of joy filling the air seconds before two very loud splashes echoed them. Oriona looked at her two sons in amusement as they swam rather haphazardly towards Megatron. She shouted at them to keep their vents closed to stop from getting waterlogged and both looked at each other in surprise. They obviously hadn't thought of that.

They were quick to close them after that and they moved easier through the water after that. Megatron nodded to them as they treaded water beside him, signalling the others to jump. The ones who followed him during the war were the first ones in, hitting the water and sinking a little because of their bulk. Mirage, however, swam as gracefully as a fish and taunted the others with that fact. Being a boat really did have its advantages.

The rest of the team hung back and just stared at the water. Oriona wasn't too keen on jumping in herself; she could just see a current grabbing her and dragging her out to sea. Megatron shouted at them that they were wasting daylight and she sighed before she launched herself off of the cliff. She heard a few of the others let out shouts of shock at her rather "fearless" display.

It took a second of the fall to close all of her vents and flip herself over to dive. She thought she heard Skywarp shout that she was a showoff before she slipped into the water. She flipped herself over and headed for the surface, fighting a little against the constant downward pull on her armor. She broke the surface and shook her head, clearing the water out of her optics enough to see where she was. In the middle of a ring of Seekers; she was not sticking around long.

"Nice dive, Paxy!" Flamewar crowed as someone else hit the water. "Ow; okay, that mech's gunna have a bruise."

She nodded in agreement as Blurr surfaced and began to move slowly away. She sent an apologetic look at him before she started swimming towards Megatron. He was still just floating with Side Swipe and Ironhide, encouraging them to stay afloat rather than sinking. Ironhide was having a hard time remaining on top of the water and kept spluttering as he sank. Scorponok was making her way over, looking a little like a shark as she swam. Oriona smirked at the mental image before she clung to Megatron's back and made him sink a little.

"How about you not kill me?" Megatron chuckled as he turned to nip at her antennas. "I would enjoy seeing Cybertron saved."

"Who said I was trying to kill you?" she asked innocently as she caught his lips in a kiss instead. "I just don't want to sink."

He purred softly before he stroked her helm reassuringly. He looked around and called out to make sure that everyone was in the water. Once a quick headcount was given, he ordered everyone under the waves and to start moving towards the coordinates that Vector Prime had given them. It took a little longer to convince everyone to get under the water, but eventually they were on their way.

The grace of the Seekers seemed to amaze everyone as they went. Only Mirage seemed able to keep up with them, and even then, she looked like she was having troubles with the current. Most of the ground-based mechs were having a hard time moving, rather put off by the fact that the Seekers were so much better than them.

Oriona was just having problems keeping up, constantly grabbing a hold of Megatron's foot to stop from falling behind. He kept reaching back to pull her up to his chest, but she was determined to swim on her own. She could see the Seekers watching her, slowing down a little and trying to swim back to help her. She could do it on her own; why did everyone think that she needed help?

"Oriona," Megatron sighed before he reached over and grabbed her. "You are making this harder on yourself. Stop trying to use your arms to steer you; that's what your feet and legs are for."

She glared at him before slumping in defeat. "Leave it to me to slow us down," she grumbled.

"Hardly," he replied with a visible sneer in his voice. "If anyone is slowing us down, it's the idiot flier hot-dogging in the back. Honestly why do you keep him around? He's almost entirely worthless!"

She reproached him angrily over the bond, not bothering to voice her opinion. Regardless, she did order Jetfire to pay attention and to stop showing off; they were supposed to be looking for the Atlantis Pattern. The grumble she got was all the confirmation she needed before she started kicking her legs slowly.

Megatron released her, letting her try swimming on her own. She was surprised at how much easier she cut through the water. She let out a soft laugh before she took off, flashing past Megatron in a second. She was stunned by her speed, stunned at how seamlessly she sliced through the water, and stunned at how simple it seemed to be happening. Everyone was still looking for the pattern, moving around huge rock formations on the seafloor. She swam off on her own, glancing over her shoulder at the sound of snarls.

She rolled her optics as she watched Jetfire and Megatron swim after her. Megatron had his dentas bared while Jetfire was as bristled up as he could manage. She was slowly getting sick of the constant fighting between the two of them, especially since she was already mated to Megatron. She really wished Jetfire would just give it up. She was never going to go back to him; she was happy with Megatron; she didn't want anyone else.

She was a little relieved when Vector Prime and the Minicons carrying the kids swam in between both of the quarrelling mechs. It was a little dangerous; Megatron wouldn't hold back just because someone got in his way that wasn't her or his sparklings; but it was an effective way to keep the two mechs apart. They all swam over to her and she settled in between Vector Prime and the Minicons, ignoring the glare she got from her mate. She was not rewarding his behaviour.

They continued searching, swimming back and forth to cover more ground at a different angle. She lifted her head curiously and tapped Megatron's arm to get his attention as one of the Minicons came hurrying back over to them. She was too far away to hear what the Minicon was saying to Vector Prime, but judging by the way the older mech waved his arm at them to join him, it was what they were looking for.

She swam over as quickly as she could, darting around Jetfire as he rocketed over to them without looking. She gave him a reproachful glare before she asked what the Minicons and kids had found.

"We aren't sure," Coby replied. "It looks like the Atlantis Pattern, but we aren't sure where it leads."

Oriona nodded to him before ordering everyone over to their position. She wasn't surprised when the Seekers turned up first, their wings spread wide as they came to a stop. She ordered them to start moving the rocks aside so that they could see what was hidden behind the Atlantis Pattern and was startled when they all saluted without a word and went to work. She blinked at Megatron and he just smirked in response. She had a feeling he had something to do with the obedience.

She had a bit of a problem getting the others to work. They whined that the Seekers were already doing the work and claimed that it was a waste of time. She only had to grab one of the mech's by the throat; unfortunately for Demolisher who had gotten within arm's reach; and they listened very well after that. She was starting to grow annoyed now with the constant need to force them to listen.

"Come on, Oriona," Megatron soothed as he gently grasped her shoulders. "We should go with Vector Prime and check out that symbol just to make sure nothing happens."

"I'm going too," Jetfire snapped as he swam up beside Megatron. "No way I'm letting the kids go anywhere with you."

Megatron glared at him before he turned and swam to where Vector Prime was waiting with the kids and Minicons. The older mech did not seem impressed with Megatron's decision to tag along, but he kept his opinion to himself as she and Jetfire followed the larger mech. The Minicons showed them where they had found the pattern and moved back to let Vector Prime look. He pressed his hand against the symbol and moved back as it slowly started to open.

They swam in through the opening, pausing as they were faced with another wall. Coby piped up that it must have been an air lock. Jetfire nodded in agreement as Megatron easily swam over to the doors, growling little at the Minicons as they tried to flock around his legs.

"Now where is the sanity in staying close to the legs that are going to be moving fast enough to knock you around like a ball?" he demanded as Jolt tried to cling to him.

"But it's scary in here!" Jolt whined.

"It will be worse if you stay too close," Megatron growled in return. "We are in a closed in environment; nothing gets in our out without us noticing."

The Minicons reluctantly pulled away as Megatron swam the final few meters to the door and pressed his hand against it. The sound of a motor kicking on reached them and the Minicons and kids let out worried noises. Oriona hushed them, reassuring them that no harm would come to them. Shortly after she said that, the opening behind them closed off and the water began to drain out of the room.

"It was an airlock!" Coby chimed, no doubt proud of himself for being right.

"Now imagine what would have happened if you stayed under my feet," Megatron replied as his feet touched down a little heavily on the floor. "Human meatcakes."

"Megatron," Oriona chided gently.

He shrugged his shoulders, sending a "you know it's true" down the bond. She shook her head as her own feet touched the floor much lighter than every other mech in the lock. The last of the water drained away and, naturally, Megatron shook himself off like a turbohound, making the humans that had just gotten out of their Minicon partners squeal in surprise. They demanded to know what that was for and Megatron just smirked as the doors opened up behind him.

Vector Prime moved past him, telling everyone to follow him. Megatron gave his back a pointed glare before he followed, calling for Oriona to walk beside him. She rolled her optics as she slipped away from Jetfire, telling the children to stay close so they did not get lost or stepped on. She could tell just by the soft whimpers that they were scared of the ship more than the thought of getting stepped on.

Megatron's arm brushed against her before their fingers intertwined. She leant a little on his arm, smiling to herself. He might have just been doing it to make Jetfire jealous, but she was willing to take whatever small form of comfort she could glean from him. It wasn't like he was unloving; it was just that he was so on edge lately that she was starting to worry about him.

She looked up as a set of doors opened, allowing them entrance into the control room. The humans let out murmurs of amazement as they move away from the gigantic feet of their guardians to explore the room a little. Oriona pulled away from Megatron, looking at the control panel with some degree of curiosity. Megatron stayed back, muttering that if something went wrong he wasn't going to get blamed for it. Jetfire walked boldly over to the control panel and started looking around, shouting for Vector Prime to hurry up with his investigation.

The glare the flier received was enough to make Oriona snort with laughter. She quickly scuttled over to Megatron and leant on him, hiding her face in his hip to stop herself from just laughing outright. Megatron's fingers ghosted over her antennas with a content purr as the humans twittered amongst each other. That noise was quickly overshadowed by Jetfire and Vector Prime's voices.

She looked up at the two mech and blinked. They were facing each other and looked almost ready to go for each other's throat. That was terrifying in the fact that Vector Prime was not aggressive by nature. Vector Prime's voice started rise as his fists quivered at his side; he was getting ready to punch the green mech.

"You old, senile idiot!" Jetfire snarled before he shoved Vector Prime hard in the chest. "Don't you know how to fly your own ship?"

Vector Prime grunted in pain as he struck the control panel behind him. His hand settled on an odd circular panel and the energon in Oriona's body ran cold. The whole ship trembled and Megatron swore loudly before he was knocked off his feet. She hit the ground a second later, crying out in pain as her elbow hit the ground first and took her weight. It snapped and made her scream in agony before Megatron's arm circled her waist, pulling her closer as the whole floor trembled.

She could hear an engine engaging somewhere in the bowels of the ship and she weakly lifted her head. Vector Prime was swearing as he typed frantically at the panel in front of him. He yelled something along the lines of "hold on" before everything seemed to waver before her optics. She offlined them quickly and turned to bury her head in Megatron's chest, clinging to him as she felt the floor beneath her vanish.

When the floor solidified again, she was lying in a pool of energon and oil. She whimpered softly as Megatron moved and gently took her elbow in his hand, setting the strut back into place until a medic could look at it. He pulled a large cloth out of his subspace and carefully bandaged the wound up before he rounded on Jetfire.

"Are you happy now?" he growled lowly. "Not only did you cause a serious injury to your leader, but you injured a superior officer, activated an ancient spaceship that blasted us off of the seafloor, probably injuring the others since there was no warning, and now we are Primus only knows where with no way of getting in touch with the others. Are you proud of yourself, soldier?"

Jetfire just glared at Megatron before he pointed at Vector Prime as the old mech sat on the floor with a pained groan. "He's the one that made us warp."

"You shoved him into the control panel," Megatron snapped. "Because of that, the engines were activated, shooting us out of the ocean. Now, why would we have to warp? I don't know, because we are trying to stay hidden from the humans and their surveillance equipment?" He growled before turning to help Vector Prime. "Everything is on your head, Jetfire; are you proud of yourself?"

Jetfire glowered at Megatron, his wings trembling in outrage. Megatron ignored him and instead focused on getting Vector Prime back on his feet. When he was certain that Vector Prime wasn't going to fall back over, he walked back over to her and picked her up. She blushed a little bit before resting her cheek on his shoulder.

"I can walk, you know," she grumbled.

"I want to make sure you won't get hurt again," he replied simply. "Where are the humans?"

"Over here," Coby's voice called before all three humans and their Minicon companions nervously walked out from around the side of the control panel. "Is Oriona alright?"

"She will be when we get her to a medic," Megatron replied. "For now, the dressing should suffice."

The kids were obviously distressed by the fact that something like this had happened. She personally was not impressed with the fact that she was injured. She wanted to berate Jetfire for being so reckless and stupid, but Megatron had already done that and it was pointless to do it again. Vector Prime walked past, his back a little stiff from pain, and asked them to follow him.

Megatron was quick to follow, carrying Oriona with him; she was not impressed. The humans followed close behind, staying far enough back to not get stepped on, but close enough that they could hear what Vector Prime said. Jetfire walked sullenly in the back, muttering under his breath. Bud piped up to ask why Megatron was carrying her and it was Vector Prime that replied.

"Megatron might be a brute, but he does have a code of honour that makes him care for his injured mate," he stated calmly.

"Somehow, I find that more insulting than innocent," Megatron stated dryly.

Vector Prime didn't bother shooting a glare over his shoulder as they continued down the hallway. The rest of the trip was silent. Only Jetfire's grumbling could be heard and even that was faint. Finally, after what could have been the longest hallway in existence, Vector Prime opened the door to another room, one that had a huge shrine in the center of it.

"Well doesn't that just have a huge 'here's the prize' label stamped on it," Lori commented with a smirk.

"Nothing is ever that simple," Megatron replied evenly.

"You are both correct," Vector Prime replied. "The Omega Lock is indeed within this shrine, but, it has a special protective lock around it that will start a detonation sequence if we get it wrong."

"Why does everything have to BLOW UP if something goes wrong?" Oriona sighed.

"Well, it something blows up when it is right, it's called a bomb," Megatron replied.

The kids giggled as Oriona shot her mate a glare and growled a little at him. He merely smiled innocently and blinked his blue optics like he had no idea what she was glaring at him for. Vector Prime shook his head and grumbled something about mates and youths before he motioned the human children to follow him.

He activated something in front of the shrine and the pillars rose to be in reach of the three children. He instructed them carefully about what had to happen. They all had to press the panel in front of them at the same time in order to deactivate the security locks. It seemed simple enough, but Oriona had a feeling that the old Prime was keeping something secret.

"How is it that you don't know how to fly this ship, but you know how to deactivate its defences?" Jetfire demanded.

"I had no use of learning how to pilot one when they were created," Vector Prime replied. "However, my brother insisted that I know how to move past security devices; I should thank him when I see him."

"He's still alive?" Bud asked.

"No; he is with the Matrix."

"Oh…sorry."

"It is alright; he was always a bit of a nasty brother anyways."

"I can relate," Oriona grumbled.

Vector Prime looked at her and chuckled before he rested his hand on the panel in front of him. He called to the humans to be ready and started a simple countdown. All at once, the kids put their hands on the pedestal and a loud ringing noise started echoing around them. The kids whined a little, the ringing obviously much higher to their ears, before the shrine started to glow. Very slowly, the components of the shrine folded up to reveal a small device that Vector Prime let out a soft gasp of awe at.

"The Omega Lock," he murmured.

"Great," Jetfire stated as he walked up to it, ignoring Vector Prime's suddenly panicky motion for him to stop. "Now let's get off this stupid ship."

The minute he touched it, a siren rang throughout the ship and Vector Prime cursed furiously. He walked over and did not bother to control himself as he smacked Jetfire very hard over the head.

"You fool! You've activated the self-destruct sequence!" he shouted. "We have to move, now!"

Megatron cursed before the hallway they had walked down earlier exploded, showering them with sparks and debris. The humans screamed in fright before their Minicon partners transformed and ushered them in quickly. With the humans safe, the Minicons were quick to move over to where Vector Prime was standing with the Omega Lock.

"We're trapped," Vector Prime murmured. "The hallway's gone and we just don't have the firepower needed to break through these walls."

The kids screamed again as the ground beneath them started to crack, sending the two ground-bound Minicons skidding. Vector Prime scooped them up quickly, holding the small mechs and their cargo close to his chest. The wall beside them exploded and struck Megatron hard in the back, making him cry out as he stumbled forward and sank onto one knee.

"Megatron!" Oriona screamed as she clung to him.

He spat out a mouthful of energon before he nuzzled her reassuringly and stood up again. There was a sizzling splattering noise as energon hit the burning floor; Megatron's back was bleeding. Oriona tucked her face into his neck and closed her optics as Jetfire and Vector Prime got into a screaming match over whose fault it was for their impending doom.

"I love you," she whispered quietly.

"It's not over yet," Megatron replied as he held her close, keeping his face in her neck too. "Not until we're piles of slag."

He pulled her even closer to him as the floor beneath him started to shake more violently. She clung tightly to him, asking Primus to help them somehow. She didn't really care how. The wall across the room from them exploded inwards and a loud sucking whoosh filled the room before something soared in.

"Is there a reason you are just standing there like a bunch of cornered petrorats?" Starscream demanded as he transformed. "Get your afts moving; unless of course you WANT to blow up with the ship!"

Oriona didn't think she had ever been more relieved to see Starscream in her life.

**Author's Note:** Wow, I really put this story off for way too long. Hopefully, I can get this one done and over with soon so I can start on a few of the other stories to finish them off. I can't even use school as an excuse here.


	10. To Speed Planet Again

Chapter 10 To The Speed Planet

She was unsure when they started moving. All she knew was that by the time she realized the Megatron _was_ moving he was almost out of the hole that Starscream had made in the hull. The others were right on his heels, thankfully. Megatron shouted that everyone had to move and she immediately heard lots of engines roaring as they flew as far from the ship as they could get.

"Good to see Megatron's still a gentlemech," Flamewar called as she flipped over Megatron's back and flew beside him. "Wait…is your arm bleeding?"

"Landed on my elbow and broke it," Oriona sighed bitterly.

"Ow," the Seeker replied with a wince before they all pulled up and turned to watch the ship that had started to self-destruct.

It exploded so viciously that everyone was blown back farther. Shivering, she cuddled against Megatron's chest and listened to everyone whisper about the consequences of the ship blowing up. She didn't think anything horrible would happen. To be honest, she was more worried about bleeding out. Clearing her voice, she looked over Megatron's shoulder in search of Ratchet or Quickstart.

"Are the medics on call?" she asked.

"Forgive me for lacking the proper mods to fly around in space with ease," Quickstart remarked as she floated towards them. "We can't all be Seekers."

Smiling, Oriona carefully turned herself enough for Quickstart to begin the necessary repairs. The medic began to fix her arm and, true to form, cursed her out for being overly reckless and stupid. Looking away from the mess that was slowly starting to look like an arm again, Oriona took in everyone that had showed up to save them. Two mechs stood out immediately to her and she blinked at the familiarity of them.

"Who are they?" she asked, nodding towards the two mechs.

"Not really sure," Thundercracker replied as he floated beside Megatron. "They just showed up, said 'follow us', and led us right to here. I can get them over here for ya if ya want." Turning his head, Thundercracker gave a rough sounding grunt to get the two mechs' attention. "Hey, you two; bossbots want to see you!"

Immediately, the two mechs flew over, but Oriona noticed that the taller of the pair was oddly jittery and nervous. As they came to a stop in front of her and Megatron, he actually tried to duck down behind his companion. Oriona gave Megatron a curious look and tried to best to smile at the two mechs even as Quickstart hit a nerve cluster a little too hard.

"Thank you, both of you," she commented around the pain. "We owe you our lives."

The two mechs looked at each other for a moment. The taller mech's facemask was bouncing a little but he was not saying anything that they could hear. The smaller mech simply stared out of his facemask and visor combination, his pale purple optics flashing momentarily before he turned to look at her.

"You owe us nothing, Oriona," he replied in a very familiar voice. "We are merely even."

Oriona tensed in Megatron's arms as he gave a very low rumble. It wasn't quite a growl, but it was a warning sign. Not similar to the one he frequently used with Jetfire to make him back down, but one that was almost telling the other mech to stay back. She wasn't sure why he would growl like that at a complete stranger, but as she watched the taller mech cringe and try to cower behind his smaller companion yet again, everything clicked into place.

Gasping in shock, her one good hand flew up to cover her mouth. Megatron's response was to hold her close to him in spite of Quickstart's snarls to "remain still, slaggit" and growl again at the two mechs. The shock wore off quickly for her though and almost immediately she was holding her one good arm out towards the cowering mech.

"Thrust, stop hiding behind Sideways and get over here," she demanded, ignoring Thundercracker's completely dumbstruck stare.

Megatron only let out a faint whine as the cowering mech zoomed over to hug her tightly. Quickstart, obviously annoyed that she could not work properly, sealed off her arm and snapped that she'd finish after they was done being stupid. Oriona returned the hug happily, petting the small wings she found tucked under the armor on his back. She watched Sideways as he shifted a little, only to dodge to the side as Starscream tried to tackle him.

Thrust pulled away to watch, bringing his hands up to his mouth as he giggled. Sideways was being hounded by all of the Seekers and was doing a fairly decent job of avoiding their attempts at an aerial dogpile. However, he either did not know that Skywarp could teleport or had forgotten about that fact because he wound up with Skywarp hugging him tightly around the chest and holding him still for everyone else to pile onto.

"Isn't that cute?" Quickstart sighed before folding her arms over her chest. "A dogpile of Seekers; guess that means they approve of your sparkmate, Thrust."

"Good news for me," Thrust replied, his voice actually sounding a little deeper than Oriona remembered. "Now I just have to hope that my sister approves of him. Although, if Starscream does, I'm sure she will."

Oriona chuckled before Scattershot hurried over and informed her that they were getting a call from Red Alert on the Speed Planet. Megatron ordered them to patch the call through, glancing at Vector Prime as he comforted the Minicons and their human partners. He asked if Vector Prime still had the Omega Lock and nodded when Vector Prime waved it at him. Oriona understood why he was worried about the Lock; if it had broken, they would have been set back indefinitely.

"This is Red Alert," Red Alert's voice echoed down the com link, wavering a little as static crackled just behind him. "Can everyone hear me?"

"For the most part," Oriona replied. "What's wrong?"

"It's Hotshot," he sighed. "He's in rough shape. Something's gone wrong and, well, it's best if you come see for yourself."

Oriona nodded in understanding right before the com link shorted out and earned a round of cursing from Scattershot. That prompted Starscream to demand to know if his mother knew he spoke like that and Scattershot let out a squeak of fright. Laughing, Oriona looked at Vector Prime and asked him to open a space bridge to the Speed Planet. Quickstart glared at her before commenting that Red Alert could finish fixing her arm for her and to not do anything stupid.

Leaning on Megatron as Vector Prime sliced a rift in the very fabric of space, she reached into her spark in search of the Matrix. The image of the Speed Planet appeared in the rift and she sighed as Megatron picked her up.

"To Speed Planet," she ordered.


End file.
